


Wait For You

by shiminari



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Artist Castiel, Baker!Gabriel, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 17:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5384417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiminari/pseuds/shiminari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel has been alive for thousands of years, waiting for his soulmate. At this point, he has no hope that he’ll find them again after witnessing them die once before, when he starts to age again. / DCBB 2015</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wait For You

**Author's Note:**

> This was my DCBB 2015! It was planned to be posted 11/11/15, but I got very sidetracked with college and life and everything. So, sorry for the delay ; the art for this DCBB was done by http://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra , and you can view it here http://archiveofourown.org/works/5195738 !

chapter 1:

 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

 

xx

"Okay, my apartment complex was on fire. No big deal. I mean, it is a big deal, but there's not anything I can do about it now. It's three in the morning. All I can really do is sit here." Cas thought to himself, bouncing his knee up and down, his hands positioned in his lap politely. He heard the toilet flush, the faucet run for a short amount of time, and then saw the light peeking out from under the faded blue door vanish. "Not anything you can do," He repeated, before he realized ultimately how screwed he was.

"Hey, Cas, you done freakin' out? Because if not, that's cool, but I was just wondering." Dean called out, as he came out the bathroom. He was still in the same outfit, a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, but Cas was still flustered about it. Hell, if it hadn't been for the fact he might not have a place to live for a while, he might have been even more ecstatic. Actually, probably not, seeing as how he was awkward as all hell, and you know, that other thing, but it is what it is.

Really, it all began with the fire that no one had been able to identify the cause of just yet. Truth be told, it had only been less than an hour since the whole thing went down, and the firefighters were still outside, but Cas was still a jumbled mess of nerves and anxiety, unable to stop shaking his leg in Dean's apartment.

xx

The fire alarm had gone off, Cas' heart going to his throat as he leaped out of bed, terrified. In his mad dash to make it outside, he only brought his phone and wore his slippers and boxers, as well as the t-shirt he had worn to bed. He made his way down the stairs with the rest of his neighbors, and the smell of smoke engulfed all of them. They made it outside, the crowd rather large, as firefighters pulled up to the scene, and did what they had to.

Meanwhile, Cas stood on the wet grass, the water seeping into his thin white slippers at that point, shivering. There was a slight shower going on, but nothing much. However, it was still night and cold, and everyone was huddled up, some tired, wanting to go back to bed, and some sobbing in the background. Some had gone to their cars, however, some still stood around and watched the burning complex, whether it was because they simply longed to be there, or because they forgot their keys, the way Cas had.

And that was when Cas looked to his let and saw him.

Almost the same height as Cas himself, but so different, with meadow colored eyes and a face that looked like the night sky, freckles scattered everywhere. He, too, wore the same outfit as Cas, boxers and a shirt, but didn't look all that bothered. And then Cas made the mistake of looking at him for too long.

"This is somethin' else, wouldn't ya say?" the stranger asked, his eyes meeting Cas', and his voice sleepy. He yawned and rubbed an eye, before taking a slow step towards Cas.

"Do you live here?" Cas asked him, his voice shaky, before realizing how stupid of a question it was. Of course he lived here. He was standing outside, half dressed, watching the apartment complex burn. Unless he had insomnia. Cas had bouts of it throughout his life, so far. It wasn't as unpleasant as it sounded, and actually proved to be quite helpful here and there.

"Well, not exactly. I live in the apartment complex over there," he pointed to the building across the street, before looking back at Cas. "I just came out here since the alarm woke me up and I was interested in what was going on. Where's your apartment?" he asked. "It's Dean, by the way,"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dean. I'm Castiel, or Cas, and my apartment is very close to the fire," he mumbled. "When I was going downstairs, the air was very thick and heavy. I wouldn't doubt if part of my apartment catches fire at some point, if it hasn't already."

"Damn, that's some shit. Well, I don't think they're gonna let you back into your apartment at any time, to tell ya the truth," Dean frowned. "Did you want to go back to my place and call someone or have a glass of water?"

"I suppose, seeing as how I have nothing better to do," Cas replied, sighing, taking one last look at the fire engulfing the apartments before following Dean up to his apartment, where Dean went to use the bathroom while Cas bounced his knee up and down, thinking of who to call.

"I'm thinking still, of who to call," Cas frowned. "My parents are out of the question, and I don't exactly have any relatives, and there's only one person I can think of calling, but I'd rather not."

"Well, take your time, not like I have to work tomorrow," Dean replied, before getting two glasses of water and handing one to Cas. He sat down next to him, on a rather plush bar stool that, combined with the kitchen counter, served as Dean's dining room. Or at least, dining table.

"So, you look like you're my age," Dean grinned. "You goin' to college?"

"Yes, I'm starting in a few weeks. I assume you as well?" Cas replied, his heart rate increasing. He knew the question that would come up soon.

"Yeah, I'm going to get my bachelor in Computer Sciences. You?" Dean leaned back in his chair, stretching as the sound of muted sirens filled in the empty silences between the two.

"I'm going for my bachelor in Art," Cas replied. He looked around, taking in the apartment. It was rather small, the kitchen attached to the living room, and there was only one hallway throughout the entire apartment. He could see the blue door where the bathroom was, and assumed the other two doorways down the hallway were a closet and bedroom.

"So, you find your soulmate yet?" Dean asked. A very sudden question, in Cas' opinion, but it was always something that came up with everyone.

"No, not yet," Cas smiled. "You?"

"Nah, I'm not too sure about it anyways," Dean shrugged. "I mean, what if I end up hatin' the girl? Plus you could practically stay alive forever, if you never met your soulmate. It's not like you're gonna age, just stuck at eighteen forever."

Cas was silent for a moment, before he smiled politely at Dean. "I've heard of people who refuse to meet their soulmates, or even worse, kill them when they do so they can stay alive forever."

Dean had no idea who he was talking to, Cas thought. He didn't casually throw around the fact that he had been alive for hundreds of years, living through events such as the plague, the discovery of the New World, Civil War, anything you could think of, really. It wasn't something people threw around like it was nothing. Having no soulmate was.. well, to most, it was sad. Especially if you were like Cas, older than almost everyone around you.

Cas wasn't interested in finding his soulmate. He had, once before, but that was a long time ago, hundreds of years ago, and before Cas knew it, before he even really got to talk to them, they went off to war where they were killed, leaving Cas to live forever. And although Dean glorified the idea, Cas just shook it off. It wasn't as fun or exciting as many portrayed it as. Being alone forever got to him at times, but in the end, he just kept living his life, forever adrift, waiting.

".. but really, that's messed up. I mean, if I found mine, that'd be that. We'd start aging and live our lives together probably. But I'd never try to hurt them," Dean frowned, snapping Cas back to reality. "But that's just my opinion."

"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you up forever." Cas smiled again politely, getting out his phone. "I suppose I could call a friend of mine. He owes me a favor, anyways. And, he owns a bakery, so I can eat all the sweets I want. Not like I want to, however."

"What, you don't like sweet things?" Dean looked appalled.

"I don't mind them. I'm just not the type of person to eat an entire cake in one sitting." Cas answered.

"Is it because he's not good at baking? Dude, you gotta tell me the details. Do you even like pie?"

"Pie is fine, I usually eat it on Thanksgiving. And Gabriel is fine at baking, his shop is rather popular, to tell you the truth. It's just I didn't grow up with sweet things or food. I do love honey, however." Seeing as how sugar cane became a thing around the time the New World was discovered, before that, sugar was non-existent, so Cas' palate didn't often include sweeter things.

"Well, that's a relief. You really had me goin' there," Dean grinned. "You need me to go in another room or somethin' while you call him?"

"No, you're fine where you are," Cas replied, before unlocking his phone and finding Gabriel number. He called it, and after the fifth ring, he heard someone pick up.

"Mmph, hello?" a tired voice answered.

"Gabriel, I'm in need of a favor," Cas told him. He heard Gabriel sitting up, stretching and yawning.

"Mmhm? What is it? You know, it's awfully early. You gotta another bout of insomnia?"

"There was a fire at my apartment complex. I'm currently at someone's apartment across the road, and would like to know if it was possible for me to stay at your house for the time being." Cas explained.

"Shit man, a fire? You okay? I'll come get you," Gabriel was now wide awake, and Cas could hear him searching through his clothes.

"Daddy, who are you talking to?" Cas heard a little girl's voice enter the room, as Gabriel continued to search.

"Lailah, we gotta go get Cassie," Gabriel told her, and Cas heard the jingle of keys.

"Gabriel I'm not dying, take your time," Cas rolled his eyes.

"I'll be the judge of that when I get there," Gabriel retorted, before Cas heard a door shut. "Where are you again?"

"I'm currently at someone's apartment across from mine. I'll make my way outside." Cas answered, before hanging up. He sighed, before looking over to Dean.

"That was some conversation," Dean grinned. "Your friend freakin' out?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Cas frowned. He sighed, before standing up. "I suppose I should get going now; knowing him, he'll be speeding down the road trying to get here. The second he heard fire he sprung out of bed, and even woke up his daughter."

"I'm sure she appreciates her father's bakery," Dean teased. "I should stop by sometime, if you say it's good."

Cas told him the name and address it was on, and Dean made note of it on his phone. He then took one last look around the apartment before thanking Dean one last time.

"Dude, I told you, it's no big deal," Dean tried shrugging it off, but Cas insisted.

"If you come by Gabriel's, I'll be sure to buy you something for this,"

"I let you stay at my apartment for a little bit while your apartment complex was on fire, it's not that important," he insisted, but Cas shook his head.

"I'll let myself out, thank you, Dean," he said before walking out the apartment door, closing it behind him. He walked down the stairs and made his way out to the front, waiting for Gabriel while he looked up to the sky. The stars twinkled, and reminded him of Dean's freckles, scattered on his face, and even going to his ears and neck.

He stood, watching people sit in their cars, some leaving, some people huddled outside the apartments watching. The fire had gone out by now, but the building was charred and black, the smoke sticking to it all over. He wondered how bad his apartment was, and if anything had gone up in flames. He didn't have much to worry about, however. His birth certificate he had gotten when they had been implemented was in a storage unit, as well as his social security card and his degrees from the colleges he had gone to over the years. He didn't have much else he couldn't replace, except possibly pictures.

Bright lights blinded him for a moment, before he saw Gabriel pull up, Lailah in the back seat. Cas got in, and they drove away from the apartments and firefighters.

"Jeez, that complex really went up in flames," Gabriel frowned. "Did you manage to get anything out of your apartment?"

"Only my phone," Cas replied, putting his seat belt on.

"Well, I'm sure your apartment is fine, and even if it isn't, don't they have to refund you on everything you lost? Anyways, you can stay at my place for as long as you needa," Gabriel grinned.

"Cassie is going to stay with us?" Lailah piped up from the backseat, and Gabriel answered yes.

"I'm not sure how long it'll take for me to get my belongings together, since it is obvious the tenants can't live in that complex anymore," Cas frowned.

"Well, what did you even have there?" Gabriel asked, turning onto a back road.

"Just clothes, my planner, and laptop, as well as food for the month but besides that, nothing I can think of.. except my wallet," Cas' eyes widened. "Shit,"

"Well I really hope your apartment is fine now then," Gabriel looked over to Cas, with a saddened expression. "You can borrow some money from me,"

"At least most of my money is in the bank, or on my debit cards," Cas sighed, leaning back. They sat in silence as Gabriel made it to his house, above his bakery. It was more like an apartment, if anything, but it was just him and his daughter living there, and was more than big enough for Cas to stay at. He parked the car, and went to go unlock the door while Cas helped Lailah out of her car seat.

"Cassie, I'm so happy you're here now!," she told him, as she held onto his hand.

"Is that so," he replied, his lack of sleep starting to hit him. His eyelids started falling down as his posture started to dull down into a slouch as they walked up to the apartment. They slowly started up the staircase, a dim light turned on so they could see, but in doing so it gave the hallway a yellow tint.

"Of course! We can spend all the time we want together and play dress up and I have to sell cookies soon for Girl Scouts," her eyes widened. "Cassie, can we sell them together?"

"Lailah, I'm sure that Cas is very tired and just wants to go to sleep," Gabriel scolded as they met up at the top of the stairs.

"Sowwie Cassie," she frowned, looking up at him with her rather large green-brown eyes.

"It's fine," Cas looked away, as Gabriel opened the door. He saw they had left a light on in the rush to get to him, and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, so, you can take the spare bedroom," Gabriel informed Cas, but Lailah objected.

"Why can't Cassie and I have a sleepover?" she whined.

"Lailah," Gabriel began, but Cas cut in. He bent down and was at the same level as her, before saying,

"I'm sure it would be fine if we had a sleepover. Your bed is more than big enough for three people, so I'm sure I would fit fine on there with all your pillows and stuffed animals. But we can't stay awake for long since we both have to go to bed," he told her, and she grinned, looking up at Gabriel.

"Cassie said it's okay, daddy," she told him, before jumping on Cas and hugging him tightly around his neck. "Miss will have to move over onto the other side of my bed since you take up so much room. I dunno if she'll like that," Lailah shook her head. "But she must know it'd be rude since you're the guest, so she'll just have to deal with it." she took ahold of Cas' hand once more, and led him down to her room.

"Goodnight, Lailah," Gabriel called out, before getting a look at the clock. "If you need anything, I'll be downstairs in the bakery, Cas,"

"Alright, thank you again," Cas replied, before entering Lailah's room. It was like her, messy and unorganized, toys strewn all over the place, as well as clothes. Her bed was a giant mess, although it was up very high and she needed help getting up to it. Blankets covered the entire mattress, and some were even on the floor, and the same applied for her pillows. She quickly rushed over to throw them back on the bed, and then motioned for Cas to help her.

"This is Miss," she told him, pointing at a giant stuffed rabbit the size of her, if not bigger. She picked her up and made room for Cas, and put Miss on the other side of her. She then pulled the blankets over them and giggled, snuggling next to all her stuffed animals and Cas.

"Goodnight, Lailah," he told her, before she frowned.

"Don't I get a kiss goodnight?" she asked, making Cas roll his eyes. He kissed her forehead, before getting comfortable in her bed again.

"'Night Cassie!" she told him, before closing her eyes and drifting off.

 

chapter 2:

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:14 

xx

"Cas!"

He turned around, seeing Dean coming at him, grinning. His bright meadow eyes met Cas' ice-like ones, nothing about him different from the night they met. Well, except for the fact he was dressed and brushed his hair, but it wasn't that big of a difference.

"Hello, Dean." Cas replied. He had come by the apartment complex to talk about what had happened to his apartment and what to do about his rent, possessions, so on and so forth. It was only a few days after the initial fire, and Cas hadn't seen Dean since.

"I heard a lot of tenants were coming to deal with the aftermath of the fire," Dean told Cas. "That's why you're here, right?"

"You are correct," Cas answered. "I have renter's insurance, so I just have to put in a claim and get proof of the damage so they can assess everything. If I wait for too long, then when they evaluate everything, not everything could have been caused by the fire."

"You about to take pictures or..?" Dean trailed off, implying he wanted to tag along. Cas picked up on this and realized he had nothing else to do today except send out a few bills after he was done here, then go back to Gabriel's.

"Yes, would you like to join?"

"Sure, dude," Dean grinned, before starting to walk to the apartment complex. "So what have you been up to since the fire?"

"Not much. Playing dress up with my friend's daughter," Cas replied, making Dean laugh.

"Dude, seriously? Is it the same one you're living with?"

"Yes," Cas answered. They made their ways up the stairs, and heard a few people moving around in their apartments. "Well, this it." he told Dean was they stood in front of his apartment door. It was still unlocked, seeing as how Cas hadn't bothered locking it the night of the fire.

"Looks like nothing was harmed, at least," Dean told Cas as they made their way in. Cas had to agree that everything looked the way he had left it; keys in the bowl, magazines organized neatly on the coffee table, as well as the newspaper from earlier that day still sitting where he had put it down. 

"I suppose I don't have to put in any claims then.. but I don't believe anyone can actually live here. My lease was about to be up soon, anyways," Cas told Dean as they made their way through the apartment.

"Did you have a six month or twelve month lease?" Dean asked. "I got a twelve month one, and I recently moved in, so I still have like eleven months left."

"I had a twelve month one. I had been living here since shortly after the complex had opened," Cas answered.

"Wait, dude, is that a room?" Dean asked, pointing to a small closet off of the living room.

"Yes, I suppose. It's more like a storage area," Cas replied. He opened it up, crouching, to reveal a rather small room containing storage bins.

"It looks like Harry Potter's room," Dean told Cas, who had a confused look on his face. "What's wrong?" He had crouched down, and wriggled his way in, taking a quick look around, but was now looking back at Cas.

"I didn't read those books."

"You what?"

"I didn't read them."

"...But you saw the movies, right?" Dean questioned.

"No," Cas reiterated slowly. "I have not."

Dean stared at him in utter disbelief, as Cas stared back, equally serious.

"You really got me," Dean started to laugh, before getting up. "I mean, the Harry Potter moves are like movies everyone's seen. Just like Twilight, I guess. We've all been there one time or another."

"Dean, I'm being serious," Cas insisted, frowning.

Dean continued walking, leaving Cas behind, still talking to himself. "I mean, it wasn't that funny a joke, but you really are a good actor. Have you considered going into the business?"

"Dean, the only thing I know is that they're wizards and go to school."

"Tonight I get out of work at nine and we're marathoning it," Dean told him, still in utter disbelief. "I get discounts on pizzas at work, so tonight, me and you. You're gonna sit down and watch it and like it,"

"You didn't even bother to ask if I was free tonight," Cas tilted his head.

"Anything you were going to do can wait," Dean insisted.

xx

"Alright, your mind is about to be blown."

After they finished going through Cas' apartment (getting his essentials out of there such as personal hygiene things, a few articles of clothing, or at least all he could fit into his car, so on and so forth), Cas had gone to his new home at Gabriel's. He took a shower, watched some TV, read a little; normal things he would do on any other day. But they were really all just to pass the time, as he waited for the clock to hit 8:50. He wasn't sure what to expect; he remembered when Harry Potter first had come out, when everyone was reading it. He remembered hearing about the first movie, and the seven more that came after that. But, he was never interested. The thought of wizards just never appealed to him in any way.

Which was why, at 8:58, when he stood in front of Dean's apartment door, he wasn't exactly looking forward to watching a movie, let alone eight. He stood in the doorway, taking in the apartment he had only seen once before, in a pair of black pants and a simple t-shirt. He didn't try to dress up, seeing as how, hello, both their eyes would be on the screen the entire time as they sat in the darkness.

As he entered the apartment, he saw three boxes of pizza, one on top of another, as well as a bag with what he presumed to be breadsticks, seeing as how a container of marinara sauce sat next to it. As he took off his shoes, Dean went over to the pile of food, and put two plates on top of the boxes, before walking into the living room, which was practically the same room as the kitchen.

"Not sure what kinda pizza you'd like," Dean had told him, shrugging. "Or soda. I just got a cheese, pepperoni, and an everything. And for soda I got root beer and gingerale. I mean, I think most people like those two flavors at least," he got back up and got the 2 liters of soda, as well as cups, and put them on the coffee table next to all the food. He then went to a shelf next to the TV, where a large number of movies resided, finding and putting into the DVD player Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

"I never had an interest in wizards," Cas began, as he started to assemble his plate.

"I'm kinda indifferent to them. I mean, scarier stuff always got me. Wizard's can be dangerous or whatever, but I've never heard anyone getting scared while watching this," Dean shrugged again. He picked up the remote and fast forwarded to the title screen, where he pressed play and set it back down again. He leaned over to the side of the couch, turning off the lamp, and Cas did the same on his side of the couch.

"So, you work as a..?" Cas trailed off.

"Pizza delivery boy," Dean nodded at the pizzas. "It's not the best, but it's not all that bad either. I mean, I like driving to begin with. The worst part about it is having to deal with people. They either are rude, don't tip enough, or are entirely too slow."

"Slow as in?"

"Well, I obviously have multiple pizzas in my car at all times, or most of the time. There are other people with other orders who are waiting for me. You're supposed to have your money ready," Dean shook his head, frowning. "Instead, I gotta wait, listening to some kid cry as I'm stuck holding the damn pizzas, waiting for someone to try and find some money. The worst is when they don't have enough money, but insist on having half of it."

Cas took a bite of his cheese pizza, listening tentatively. He knew retail was horrible, but now was realizing really, any job with human interaction wasn't ideal.

"But enough about me," Dean continued. "You gotta job?"

"I bag groceries," Cas replied.

"That's it?"

"Yes, I bag groceries. I don't have any wild stories," Cas answered. "I suppose there was the one time I almost ran out of bags."

"What do you even do in your spare time?" Dean frowned.

"Not much at this point," Cas shrugged. "Read, watch TV. Go to work,"

"Jesus fuckin' Christ," Dean shook his head. "We gotta get you out the house, or something. And not just going out to get groceries. When was the last time you even went to a party?"

"Not recently," Cas replied, frowning.

"Well, you're in luck," Dean took another slice of pizza out of the box and put it onto his plate, before taking a sip of his drink. "Since college is starting soon, there's bound to be at least a couple parties that we'll go to. I mean, not sure we'll find that many frat parties in Computer Science, but maybe Art"

"Parties don't particularly appeal to me," Cas tilted his head.

"That's because you haven't been to one in god knows how long," Dean replied.

"How many movies do you plan on us watching tonight?" Cas asked. He had been paying attention the entire time, but didn't know how long he could stay up.

"What, do you seriously not like this?" Dean asked, appalled.

"I enjoy it so far. I just didn't know how much longer I could stay awake past this one,"

"We can stop whenever you wanna," Dean replied.

xx

They ended up only watching the first one, after Dean had caught Cas dozing off on several occasions. Although Cas enjoyed it, he didn't see why it was that big of a deal and why that many people obsessed over it. He didn't tell Dean that, however, simply telling him he enjoyed it and then was on his way back to Gabriel's.

They continued watching the movies together, until a few days later when they finished it. They didn't know exactly what to do then, but they were decent friends by then.

It was a slow day at the bakery and Cas stood, manning the register as a favor for Gabriel, since the cashier that day was sick. He had been nibbling on a cookie Lailah made him, since she often spent time with Gabriel in the back, watching him bake. He let her make a small batch for Cas - chocolate chip with walnuts - and she took it out to him, as well as a glass of milk.

"For being such a good worker," she grinned, and he smiled. He took it, gratefully, and she returned to the back with Gabriel.

Cas looked out the big windows, with the words "Flour Power Bakery" on the pane to the right, as well as a number bellow it. Gabriel didn't specifically do really anything; he baked bread, cakes, muffins, pies, really, all kinds of baking. He had a bit of everything in his display case. In addition, he took special orders and requests, such as wedding cakes or birthday cakes.

"Hiya, Cas!"

Cas jumped; he had been so distracted by thinking about pastries he hadn't noticed Dean open the door and walk right up to him.

"Jesus, Dean," he frowned, looking at him.

"So, this is the place," Dean knocked his knuckles on the counter twice. "I'm not sure what I'll have,"

"Well, you have more than plenty to choose from," Cas gestured to the display case, loaded with goodies. It was still early, and the morning rush hadn't hit yet.

"I guess I'll have some apple pie to eat here," Dean grinned after peering into the display.

Cas rung him up, putting the apple pie on a plate as well as a fork, then handed it to him.

"You weren't joking about the quality of the food," Dean told Cas as he looked at his slice of pie, poking at it slightly with his fork. The crust was fluffy yet solid enough to hold the whole thing together, and the filling stayed in place as he touched it.

"Cassie, what kind of pie do you like because daddy said I could make you a little baby pie-" Lailah came out to the front, rambling on, before looking up and seeing Dean.

"Strawberry rhubarb," Cas replied, before picking her up. "Lailah, this is Dean, the man whose apartment I go over to every night."

"Nice to meet ya," Dean grinned, before putting out his hand. She took it gently in hers, before shaking it.

"Nice to meet you too," she giggled. "Cassie, you didn't tell me you actually had friends,"

"I told you every night where I was going," he frowned, still holding her.

"Daddy and I just thought you were lying," she shrugged, making Dean laugh.

"I have friends," Cas tilted his head.

"Anyways," she looked over to Dean, who still hadn't taken a bite of his pie. "Daddy wanted me to come ask you too if you could help me sell cookies,"

"Cookies?" Dean repeated. "Isn't that what you're doing right now?"

"Not these cookies," she shook her head. "Girl scout cookies! We have to go set up somewhere outside of a store and we'll sell them there. Daddy said he needs to be here late this week, since he had a lot of special orders, so he asked if you could," she looked up at Cas. "Pretty please?"

"What days?" Cas asked.

"I think I wanna go tomorrow and the next day, because I wanna sell the most cookies," she smiled. "But there's a really mean girl that I don't like who wants to do the same,"

"That's fine, I'm sure we'll sell more," Cas looked over to Dean, and Lailah's eyes followed.

"Oh! Mister, did you wanna come too?" she asked Dean, who at this point had taken a bite of his food and was just eating it while standing.

"I had nothing better to do," Dean grinned. "I better finish this and get going though, I have to send some bills out today," he told the both of them.

"We'll pick you up tomorrow," Lailah grinned.

xx

"Alright, so the table is all set up, now we just gotta put the boxes on it and get the chairs up," Dean told Lailah, as they stood back to bask in the glory that was their table outside of a store in Portland. They figured they get more customers here, so they opted for it.

It was when they were setting up the chairs and Dean was getting the cookies out from Cas' car when trouble started up.

"Who're these people?" Dean muttered under his breath as he made his way to the table with the boxes. He sat down in his seat, closest to the mother and her two daughters who were currently setting up as well.

"I'm unsure," Cas replied, sitting in the middle. "However, they look like they're here to sell cookies as well,"

They continued watching, before the mother looked over to the side and saw them. And right then and there, Cas could tell they weren't about to have an enjoyable experience. She was one of those over the top mothers who insisted on being involved in everything relating to her children - which wasn't bad to be involved in a child's life - but these women overdid it.

She was rather chunky, with her hair done up, as well as a face full of makeup, her nails done, and long dangly earrings on. Just from looking at her you could tell she considered herself to be above you, as if everything she did was important. That she loved to be the center of attention, so on and so forth.

"Um, excuse me?" she asked, in a prissy nasally voice, making her way over to them. "We've been set up here for the past few days. So you better scatter," she fluttered her fingers, her nails clattering into one another.

"Well, we were set up first, so looks like it should be you that leaves," Dean replied.

"Excuse you?"

"You heard me, I don't care if you've been here every day, we're here now before you. Therefore we get to stay here and you don't," Dean turned his whole body towards her, about to stand up.

"I'm about to get management," she said sharply. "This is unbelievable-"

"What's unbelievable is the lack of common sense you have," Dean replied, standing up. "We were here first, end of story. There's nothing more that needs to be said, so how about you pack up what little you unpacked and get out of here,"

"And who's gonna make me?" she asked.

"No one's gonna make you, but have you ever considered the fact that there are stores all over this town and you could be at, oh, I don't know, any one of them instead of here arguing with an 18 year old boy?"

"Well I never," she gasped. "The youth these days are so disrespectful,"

"Hey lady, we were here first, that's that. So you can either pick your table back up and move along, or you can sit here and sell half of what you probably would."

"I'm not going to sell half!" she exclaimed. "Not when you two queers are here. Do you honestly believe you two can outsell me with your daughter? Did you not know gay families are unhealthy? Look at that poor girl!"

At this point a crowd had gathered around the bickering adults, some recording what was going on, some making hushed comments. Cas and Dean, however, didn't notice this, rather, filled with rage and ticked off.

"Excuse you?" Cas asked, standing up. He took a step towards the lady. "That's a hate crime. You could get arrested for saying something like that,"

"Secondly, we're not queer, and that's not our child?" Dean added.

"And how was I supposed to know that?" she sneered.

"You weren't, but that doesn't give you the right to be a close minded homophobic bigot," Cas replied, now noticing everyone there. "I would personally start packing up, like we've been suggesting this entire time. If we took this to court, which we're going to if you don't leave, look at all these witnesses"

"This is called freedom of speech-"

"Queer is a slur," Dean corrected her. "Therefore this is a hate crime. Is it really that hard to understand? Do we have to spell it out any more?" he questioned, with a ridiculous look on his face.

"I can have an opinion!" she objected, but it was clear she was losing her footing.

"Yeah, sure you can, but in the eyes of the law it's not the opinion that's gonna lead you to being not guilty," Dean replied.

She took one last look at Cas and Dean, and then to everyone surrounding her, before starting to back up, and rushing to her van, throwing everything into it, and shoved her kids in. She then started up her car and sped away, as people around shook their heads.

"I truly hope her children didn't get her genes," Cas muttered, making Dean laugh.

 

chapter 3:

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." 1 John 4:16

xx

"Hey, Cas!"

He turned around, making eye contact with Dean, who was practically running at him. Cas was currently outside one of the campus buildings, where he had all his art classes. He had been playing chess on his phone, trying to pass the time between his classes, and still had ten minutes or so left until his next.

Cas knew Dean pretty well at this point. He knew he loved pie, and had his coffee black (Cas however preferred tea with honey). He also had found out he was allergic to cats and sneezed profusely whenever he was anywhere near them, and had found this out after Cas said he was interested in getting one ("No dude, just no,"). He loved classic rock and greasy food, preferably the two together at the same time, and Cas had heard his fair share of hits he hadn't heard in years.

"Hello, Dean," he slid his phone into his pocket.

"So, guess what?" Dean asked, a grin plastered on his face.

"Dean, there a lot of probable things that I could guess that have happened or are going to happen." Cas tilted his head.

"I'm ignoring that comment," Dean replied, "And I'm here to tell you that I heard there's a lot of parties going on. This is the first week of school, and a lot of people aren't taking it seriously. I heard from this kid in my class, Ash, there's going to be a party this Friday, and anyone could come."

"Hm," was all Cas really had to say. He never was too keen on the idea of a party, and would much rather spend the time and money on food for himself and to be doing something productive, or even just watching TV.

"Oh, come on, you practically agreed to going," Dean rolled his eyes. "Did you have anyone you were thinking of bringing?"

"Possibly my girlfriend," Cas replied.

"Your what?"

"Girlfriend," Cas answered.

They hadn't talked about Cas specifically, it was more just small comments made after Dean insisted on asking him about things, but Cas' life really wasn't that interesting at this point. They had avoided the topic of soulmates for their entirety of their friendship except the first night, since neither of them seemed interested in talking about it.

"Son of a bitch, why didn't you tell me before?" Dean frowned. "We've been friends for like a month, and this is the first time I'm hearing about this,"

"It never came up," Cas shrugged.

"Oh, I see, you're a real gentleman," Dean nodded. "You kiss and don't tell,"

"What, are you sad you can't have this?" Cas gestured to himself with a flourish, winking.

"Dude, shut up," Dean laughed. "So anyways, it's at nine and I'll come pick you up,"

"Nine on Friday," Cas repeated.

"And do I get to meet the lucky lady?" Dean asked.

"I did say I would invite her," he replied.

And so then Cas had to go back to class, and so did Dean; they had agreed for Dean to pick Cas up at twenty to nine, and they'd go get his girlfriend from there. Cas wasn't looking forward to the party, but what could he exactly do now? It's not like he could back out. Maybe he'd only have to go to one, he thought.

xx

Cas wore a simple outfit of dark jeans, a black t-shirt, and blue hoodie. He wasn't trying to impress anyone, but then again, it was going to be a party full of drunk college students who probably wouldn't even remember that he was there.

He had invited Florella, and she had agreed to come. She said she wasn't sure how long she'd stay, however, but would make the best of it, which Cas couldn't agree more with.

Cas made his way down the stairs, still tinted yellow as well as the rest of the hallway thanks to the light, and out to the front, where he waited for Dean. As he pulled out his phone, he regretted not bringing his earbuds, seeing as how he'd probably need them at some point in the night. He wasn't sure if Dean would even stay around him, or try and go off with some girl.

As he was thinking this, Dean pulled up, his lights shining their way into Cas' eyes.

"Hey, you son of a bitch, you ready?" Dean asked, grinning, as he hung his arm out the car. Cas nodded, before going to the passenger side door and getting in.

"Hello, Dean. Florella's house is near the edge of town," Cas replied, as Dean started driving, fiddling with the radio. "I'll just tell you where to drive,"

"So, what's she like? Is there anything you're not telling me about her?" Dean asked, teasingly.

"Well, what would you like to know?" Cas inquired, tilting his head. "Turn right here."

"I dunno man, it's just weird you never mentioned her. I mean, I have family that I never mentioned, but that's because they're far away. She lives on the other side of town," Dean replied.

"Well, she's Hispanic, to start off," Cas shrugged. "Fluent in both English and Spanish, so don't worry about the language barrier. She's very smart and mother-like, very tentative. She's also very small. Turn left here,"

"Well why the hell didn't you call her up the night your apartment complex was on fire?" Dean asked.

"Simply because we had been in a fight, and we're just recently on speaking terms. I do apologize if things get tense. She is not my soulmate, but we're still together," Cas shrugged, looking out the window.

"Wait, so do you speak Spanish?"

"I speak many different languages, Dean." Cas replied.

"You do?"

"Russian being my first, since that's where I was born," Cas nodded. "English and Spanish are two I am also fluent in. Turn left here, and her house will be on the right on that road,"

"That's cool, I'm not really fluent in any other language except Latin, but that's not useful and I'm sure I forgot most of it at this point," Dean replied, before driving slowly on the road, before Cas told him to pull into the driveway of a quaint blue house.

Cas took out his phone and unlocked it, going to his contacts and calling her number.

"Florella? ... Sí, estoy aquí. ¿Estas listo? ... No, yo esperaré para tú. ... Yo he conducido con mi amigo... Está bien." he hung up, and put it back in his pocket.

"Dude I have no idea what you just said," Dean told Cas. 

"I just told her I was here and asked if she was ready, which she's not, that we drove here together and that I'd wait for her."

"How do you not forget all that?" Dean wanted to know.

"Aren't you learning coding? It's the same thing, they're both languages," Cas replied.

"I guess," Dean tapped on the steering wheel.

They sat, the sounds of the radio washing over them, before they saw Florella come out. Her pale pink hair framed her face, and the tips hit her collarbones, which were visible thanks to the low cut sweater she was wearing. Her lips were a metallic color, and her eyes looked like she hadn't slept in days.

She got in the car, in the backseat, and Cas looked back at her.

"Long time no see, it's been ages since I've seen you," he greeted her, as Dean started to back out of the driveway.

She smiled, before replying, "I doubt that, Castiel."

"Doubt what?"

"Ages? To you?"

Cas shrugged, before continuing, "How have you been?"

"Hmm," she pondered, looking around. "I suppose okay. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, sorry. This is Dean, Dean, Florella," Cas introduced them.

"Nice to meet ya," Dean told her, looking up at the mirror and catching her eyes.

"Likewise," she replied.

"When we get to the party," Cas told Florella, "Just tell me when you want to leave,"

"You son of a bitch," Dean told Cas. "We're not even there and you're already talking about leaving?" he teased.

Cas simply rolled his eyes, as they pulled onto the street where the party was going on.

Marion was a small, developing town, between Portland and the Pacific Ocean. Its first residents had started living there ten years ago, at the most, but it had started to grow, seeing as how people who loved the west coast moved there, especially those who loved Portland, but not living in a big city. This being said, every house was a new house, but there generally wasn't parking spaces in that many places. After all, they only had a few convenient stores and a pizza place, although stores were in the process of being built.

When they turned onto the street, there were cars simply littered everywhere. On the road, some practically in the street, many on the lawn of the house. Cas looked over to Dean, who shrugged.

"Guess we'll just park in the driveway of a house for sale," Dean shrugged, pulling over and parking. They all got out and he locked the doors, putting the keys in his pocket, and made their way to the sound of blaring music, the bass vibrating the ground. Cas put his arm around Florella as they made their way to the door, where on the way, they saw a couple making out on the front lawn, as well as someone who was passed out on the porch.

"Dean!" someone shouted over the music, and Cas turned to see a man with a.. mullet? making his way over.

"Hey, Ash!" Dean grinned. "Cas, this is the guy I told you about,"

"You up for a round of beer pong?" Ash asked, nodding at Cas, before looking back at Dean. Cas could tell he already had a drink or three, seeing as how he wasn't walking straight.

"Sure," Dean nodded. "Cas, you coming?"

"Florella, do you plan on playing?" Cas asked, and she shrugged. Cas looked back at Dean, and replied, "I suppose so."

The four of them made it over to a table where cups already were set up, but empty. Ash went off to find beer, and Cas, Dean, and Florella made small talk while waiting.

"How long have the two of you been together?" Dean asked, leaning back on the table. "Cas never mentioned having a girlfriend, or even you to begin with."

"Cas isn't much of a talker," Florella smiled. "But, I dunno, hm,"

"We never asked each other out," Cas replied. "It just happened."

"Cassie has been waiting a long time for me," Florella teased, while Cas simply rolled his eyes. They didn't have to speak rather loudly, despite being at a party. The music was on the other side of the house, and there weren't too many people near them, most of them outside by this point.

"Whaddya mean by that?" Dean asked.

"Oh, nothing much," she replied, still smiling. Under her breath, she muttered to Cas, "¿Tú no contas él sobre ti mismo?"

"No ha venido todavía," he replied.

"Not sure how much beer you use for your games," Ash called out, walking up with four bottles. "I've already played a few rounds tonight so I'm not on my a-game but I can still kick your ass. What're the teams?"

Dean shrugged, and Florella and Cas looked indifferent about the whole ordeal.

"I'll take the pretty lady," Ash gestured for Florella to come to him. "We can always switch it up,"

And so Dean and Cas played against Florella and Ash. At the end of the first game, all four of them were tipsy to some extent, but played another game, this time Florella and Dean against Ash and Cas. After that, they played one last round, of Florella and Cas against Ash and Dean, before Florella wasn't feeling the best.

"Is something wrong?" Cas asked, his words slurring, holding her hand with both of his, as she put her other hand over her mouth.

"Feel like I'm gonna vomit," she replied, hunching over. Cas started to lead her over to the door, and looked at Dean and Ash, who simply smiled and urged him to help her.

"Did you drink too much?" Cas asked, as they made it out the front door and pass bodies strewn across the porch and lawn.

"Dunno," she replied, before he stopped both of them.

"Put your hair up," he told her, as she took a hair tie off of her wrist and handed it to him, and then put her hand back on her mouth.

He put her hair up so it wouldn't get in the way, and then led her to some bushes, where she proceeded to vomit.

"Shit, I don't have any paper towels.." Cas lost his balance for a moment, before someone behind him helped steady him.

"Woah, you a lightweight or something?" Ash asked, as he let go of Cas.

"I have some napkins in baby," Dean told him, coming up behind Ash.

"Thanks," Cas nodded, before looking over to Florella who seemed to be done vomiting, but he couldn't exactly be sure.

"I wanted to leave, anyways," Dean told Cas, shrugging.

"Are you kidding me? The nights only begun for me," Ash rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna head back in, see you in class," he patted Dean's shoulder, nodded at Cas, then walked back into the house.

"Just stay here while I get them," Dean started walking off to where they parked the car, while Florella started vomiting again.

"How're you feeling?" Cas asked, which wasn't the best thing to ask.

"How do you think?" she retorted, when she finally stopped. 

"When you get home make sure to drink a lot of water," he told her, only making her roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Cas," she replied, before trying to stand up. Dean was making his way over with an abundance of napkins. He handed them to Cas, who then wiped her mouth and chin area. They then made their way to Dean's car, where Cas threw the napkins in a garbage can. They got in, driving in silence as Florella groaned.

"Trust me," Dean told Cas, after they dropped her off at her house. "Parties are usually better than that."

"If you say so," he replied.

 

chapter 4:

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2

xx

"Sorry, Cas, I have to take this call," Dean told him as they sat in Dean's living room, per usual, eating burgers and fries from the pizza place Dean worked at (they started putting other foods on the menu, which had made Dean more than ecstatic). Cas and Dean had been watching a Clint Eastwood movie, that Dean was extremely into, and Cas didn't mind.

"Take your time," Cas replied, before taking a handful of fries and eating them one at a time.

"Hey, Sammy!" Dean greeted the person on the other end. "How's it goin'?" He paused for what seemed like forever, as Cas heard the person on the other end talk away, before Dean grimaced. "Dude, what? They can't just do that.. son of a bitch, what're you gonna do?" Another pause. Dean pursed his lips, leaning back in the couch, legs crossed. "Okay, listen, here's what you're gonna do. See if you can get some transfer papers or figure out how all that works. There's a shit ton of colleges around here, you should see if you can get transferred to one."

At this point Cas had practically eaten all the fries, and was immensely curious as to what was going on. Who was Sammy? Why did Dean want them to go to college here? He tilted his head, trying to think of all the possible explanations.

"Okay, okay, go on your laptop and try to figure it out," Dean nodded. "Call me as soon as you can," and with that he hung up. He took the phone away from his ear, gripping it tightly.

"So.. rain check on the movie?" Cas asked, as he sat on the couch curled up in a ball.

Dean looked over to Cas, his eyes soft. "I don't," Dean began. "I just can't believe this."

"If you'd like you can start to explain it to me," Cas replied. "But do not feel obligated to."

"Well, you're here anyways," Dean shrugged, "So, I have a younger brother Sam - we're both eighteen, since neither of us have met our soulmates, but technically I'm four years or so older than him - and he goes to college at Stanford."

"That's incredible, your family and you must be so proud of him," Cas commented.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, but the thing is, while he was on campus, a girl got raped. He saw it happening, and knocked the guy off of her, and ended up breaking his nose in the process. Long story short, they thought that was too excessive and didn't want either the rapist or Sam there, since they both did something wrong."

"That doesn't sound right," Cas frowned. "I thought California was very strict about rape and those sort of things.. punishing both parties doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, it really fuckin' doesn't. So, now, Sam has to transfer to another college, so I told him to just come here. It's gonna blow since his girlfriend is in Cali too, but oh well," Dean shrugged. "They weren't soulmates."

"Ah," Cas nodded. "Well, I wouldn't think it'd be hard to transfer here. After all, he did get into Standford. If he could do that, he can certainly get into any college here, but I do believe transfers take a while to do."

"Well, that's the plan now, I guess." Dean shrugged. "I just can't believe it."

There was a silence that filled the room, as a frozen frame of Clint Eastwood looked at the two. On the table in front of them, their wrappers and containers lay, empty and scattered, crumbs everywhere. Cas looked over to Dean, before saying,

"I better leave soon, I told Lailah that I'd read her a bedtime story." Cas got up, brushing off crumbs. "I'll see you around," he smiled, before walking out of the apartment.

"See ya," Dean replied, still sitting on his couch.

xx

"Castiel, there's a stray cat outside of my house," Florella hissed over the phone.

"Florella, I'm driving home right now. Did you want me to come get it?" Cas asked, squinting his eyes.

"Well, what am I supposed to do about it? It's a damn cat just out here. Whose cat is it? Will I ever find out? No, because I'm not going to touch it. So unless you want to-"

"I'm sure it has a home," Cas replied.

"I've never seen this cat, just come," Florella insisted, before hanging up. Cas sighed, and started to head over to her house. When he pulled into the driveway, he saw a small white and orange cat sitting on her front steps, waiting. But waiting for what, Cas wasn't exactly sure of. He got out of his car and started making his way towards it, and when the cat saw him, they ran up to him.

"Oh," was all Cas could say. The cat looked dirty up close, and it was obvious it didn't have a home. It was tiny, but big enough to be away from its mother. He looked around, and saw no one in particular, or at least, no one looking for a cat.

Florella opened the door, finding Cas holding the petite cat and a confused look on his face. "What's that look for?" she asked, as she held the door open for him. He entered the house, taking off his shoes, still holding the cat.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he tilted his head, holding the cat out to her.

"That sounds like a you problem," she looked away, her hair swooshing through the air as she did so. "I dunno, give it a bath?"

"Get me a box and a towel," Cas sighed. He let the cat sniff his hand, putting its wet nose all over it, before snuggling up to him. He got out a can of tuna while he waited for Florella, opening it and putting it on a paper plate, before offering it to the cat. They devoured it in no time, and practically finished it by the time Florella came back with the box and towel.

"Did you seriously just give that stray my tuna fish?" she glared, holding a decent sized box and one of her good, yet overused towels.

"Why would you say that," Cas asked, more of an accusation if anything.

"Call this cat a stray? Because that's what it is-"

"No, tuna fish. You don't say steak mammal," Cas tilted his head. "Why would you say tuna fish? That's redundant,"

"I'm ignoring that remark and going back to the fact you gave it some of my tuna-"

"Which is half a dollar for a can,"

"-that I could have been looking forward to eating," she finished.

"You bought a four pack of tuna and you still have two left in your cabinet, you're fine," Cas rolled his eyes. "Now, are you going to help me clean him?"

They spent the next half hour trying to bathe the cat which was okay, but Florella was too prissy for it, really. "I just don't like dirty things," she insisted, before excusing herself to change clothes after getting too much water on herself. Cas sat with the cat and cleaned her off, something he learned while doing so. Or at least, he couldn't see any genitals.

He put her in the box with the towel, where she dozed off, and went to the living room, where Florella currently was watching TV. He sat down at the edge of the couch while she layed on the remaining part of it, starting to doze off. Silence surrounded him, the only sound was the quiet TV, before he curled up next to her, breathing in her scent, or at least, her shampoo.

"Stop it," she teased, wiggling around as he put his arms around her.

"Why?" he asked, holding her tighter. He nudged his face up against her neck, blowing air where he knew she was ticklish, and within a second she burst out laughing, squirming.

"You asshole," she laughed, freeing herself from his grip. "Is the cat all cleaned up?"

"Yes," he replied, sitting up with her. "I'm not sure what to do with her. Lailah would love her, but I'd have to ask Gabriel beforehand."

"Well, did you wanna see all the new clothes I got?" she asked, stretching. "There's not much else to do,"

"Only if you make a runway and put on a show," Cas replied, making her giggle, as he said it with a serious expression.

"Come sit on my bed, and the runway will be from my closet to there."

Cas found himself snuggled up in god knows how many blankets and pillows, sitting at the edge of her bed, as obnoxious pop music played in the background. She dimmed the lights, and had a single light on brighter than the others, making a nice runway.

She came out wearing a blue dress, longer in the back than in the front, strutting across to Cas, and then back. He nodded, taking it in, and she then came out in a peach blouse and plain shorts, walking down the runway again, and back to her closet. Finally, she came out walking in white lingerie, stopping where Cas stood.

"Is this why you wanted to show me your new clothes?" he tilted his head.

"I bought this for me," she pouted.

"And you wore it for yourself while I sat on your bed," Cas continued.

"Mhm," she replied, taking a step closer.

"Well," Cas replied, before leaning in to kiss her. She pushed him back onto the bed, the music fading out as it started up with another song, the dark room engulfing the two of them.

xx

It was now October, and Dean had just picked Sam up from the airport. Cas hadn't gone, not wanting to be a bother. Dean, however, insisted that they all have dinner together and get to know each other, or at least Sam could be introduced to everyone.

Gabriel had closed the bakery relatively early, and had brought up a few things for dessert with him; some pie (Cas had insisted), some cake he had made especially for the occasion, and some cookies. Cas and Lailah had been cooking for what felt like all day, making a proper dinner for Gabriel, Lailah, Dean, Sam, Florella, and of course, Cas himself.

"Look how pretty this looks," Lailah gushed.

"I suppose," Cas replied. He had been cooking for god knows how many years, so it was like second nature. It was, however, tedious. "Why don't you go wash up?" Cas told her, as he put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

"Okay," she clapped her hands, her eyes shinning brightly, before going to the bathroom to wash her hands and then change clothes.

Cas looked around, all the food prepared and ready to go. He took off his apron, supposing that he should do the same. He washed his hands, and then went to the spare bedroom he was staying in, getting out a gray t-shirt, and a dark blue cardigan, as well as jeans. He went to the small bathroom he had, and took a quick shower, getting all the flour out of his hair and off of him in general. When he was done, he blow dried his hair and got ready for Dean and Sam.

"Cassie," Lailah knocked on his door, as he was putting on the cardigan. "Your guests are here,"

"Tell them I'll be out in a minute," he told her, and she ran to the front door to inform them. He took one last look himself in the mirror, before walking out his bedroom, only to see a giant human standing in the door frame, and Dean next to him, beaming.

"Hello," Cas welcomed them in. "You must be Sam,"

"Cas, right?" he asked, smiling. He stuck out his hand, and Cas shook it, nodding.

"I've made dinner, please go to the dining room while I bring everything out," he told the two, before seeing Florella's pink hair behind them. He walked over to her, smiling, although she looked off.

"Is something wrong?" he asked quietly, but she shook her head. She took off her shoes, and followed Sam and Dean to the dining room, while Cas went to the kitchen and brought out their appetizer, pan cooked prawns with snow peas and butter beans.

"Woah," Dean told Cas. "Dude, you can cook like this but we've been ordering take out every time you come over?"

"This is just the appetizer, Dean," he replied, before sitting inbetween Dean and Lailah. Florella sat across from him, Sam across from Dean, and Gabriel across from Lailah.

"Which means there's even more food like this?" Dean asked, in disbelief.

"I suppose," he replied, before making Lailah a plate and himself, then passing it around.

"Not only does it look good but it tastes good too?" Dean started shoveling more into his mouth, making everyone laugh but Cas only shook his head.

"So, where are you from?" Sam asked Cas, trying to strike a conversation.

"Originally Russia," Cas replied.

"How long did you live there?" he asked.

"A while, I suppose," Cas shrugged, inbetween bites.

"When did you come here then?"

"A few years ago," Cas answered. 

"It seems like a nice place so far," Sam smiled. "We're originally from Kansas,"

"So can you speak Russian too?" Dean asked, his mouth full, and Cas nodded. "Dude, what language can you not speak?"

Cas simply shrugged, before seeing everyone had finished their food. "I'll go get the next course," he told them, taking in the dirty dishes.

"Guess what, Dean," Lailah said as Cas left the room.

"What?" Dean asked, looking over at her, smiling.

"I sold the most boxes of cookies," she grinned. Cas could hear their voices float into the kitchen as he got the next course ready, and brought it out. He first brought the carbonara out, then the focaccia.

"Ugh, stop making all this good food," Dean groaned. "I wanna hire you as my personal chef so I can just eat this all day and get fat from it,"

"What is this?" Florella asked.

"The bread I got from Gabriel, or at least the recipe," Cas answered. "It's chestnut, rosemary, and pancetta focaccia and the carbonara is of smoked mackerel."

"And there's still more food?" Gabriel asked, before taking bite of the bread.

Cas nodded. "The main course, and then we'll have dessert."

"So, what cookies were you talking about?" Sam asked Lailah, who was digging into her food.

"I sold girl scout cookies," she replied.

"Do you have any more?" Sam asked, perking up. "Those are pretty good."

"There are in the freezer, but the season is over now," she told him.

"But there was a funny story to go along with the cookie ordeal," Cas told Sam.

"Really?" Sam asked. "I never heard it."

"Well, we had set up to sell cookies outside of a store," Dean began, putting his fork down. "So, this son of a bitch comes up in her dumb van with her kids who're probably smarter than her, and starts setting up when she clearly sees we're sitting there."

"Her excuse was that they had been there the day before," Cas continued. "But failed to realize that we were already set up, therefore claiming the area,"

"So, she went off about how we're gay and it's not natural and thought Lailah was our daughter," Dean told them. "And a whole crowd started forming and telling her to just leave. It was pretty damn embarrassing."

"Well, ignorance is bliss," Cas remarked.

They continued making small talk, before, of course, the question came up.

"So, you two are soulmates?" Sam asked, gesturing towards Florella and Cas.

"Oh, no," Florella responded. "But we are together."

"Soulmates are pretty weird," Dean shrugged. "I mean, what if you never find yours?"

"Oh, man, you have to hear this story. So, get this, while I was in California, one of my friends told me his parents had been married for like twenty years. They weren't soulmates, but still stayed together," Sam began. "So one day his mom finds a gray hair in her husband's beard, and was curious. So she confronted him about it and he confessed to having an affair, and after it, he started aging. And then they got a divorce. I think the dad got together with his soulmate,"

Gabriel whistled, and Dean shook his head.

"Well, it would be a shame to spend all that time together, only to end up not with one another," Florella remarked, looking at Cas.

"That whole thing is so complicated, why even bother," Dean stretched. "I think I'm ready for the main course," he smiled at Cas, patting him on the back.

"It'll be right out," Cas replied, going into the kitchen and pulling out the chicken pot pie had made. He returned to the dining room, setting it down in front of everyone. There was cheese stuffed into the crust, and when Cas cut into it, a big puff of steam came pouring out.

"Oh, man, why don't you have Cas live with you?" Dean asked Florella. "You're really missin' out,"

"Because Florella is a stone cold heart breaker," Gabriel laughed, putting his arm around her.

"Ja ja ja," she rolled her eyes, as she helped herself to the food. "Yo prefiero no tener un esqueleto en mi casa,"

"No soy un esqueleto," Cas retorted, making her laugh. "¿Tú miras ti mismo?"

"¿Perdon?" she stuttered, blushing.

"I really have no idea what they're talking about," Dean looked over to Lailah.

"Flower said Cassie is a skeleton," Lailah giggled, making Dean smile, although he didn't exactly understand why Florella would say something like that. Or Cas would say it back at her. He knew Cas wasn't all that young, but he never had actually asked about his age. It just didn't seem right, or something like that. He wasn't all that curious, anyways.

They continued to talk, poking and prodding at each other, before Lailah started drifting off in her chair and they all realized what time it was. Florella had to go to a doctor's appointment and Cas ushered her out of the door, but she stopped him and had him walk her to her car.

"Is something the matter?" Cas tilted his head, and she frowned.

"Well," she started, but looked to the side. The streetlight illuminated the spot next to her car, the only real noise coming from upstairs. Cas followed her eyes, but they only landed on the parking lot, nothing of interest. She tightened her grip on her purse, before biting her lip, then looked up, meeting Cas' eyes.

"I think I can handle it," he insisted, frowning, wondering why she just wouldn't come right out with it and tell him what was bothering-

"I'm pregnant."

 

chapter 5:

"You are loved more than you will ever know by someone who died to know you" Romans 5:8 

xx

“I understand the whole sleep talking thing but what I don’t understand is the princess dragon dream and why I’m in it.”

Cas had slept over at Dean's a week later, and the two hadn't talked that much, seeing as how Sam was there and Dean was helping him get everything together, as well as working. Cas hadn't told anyone about Florella being pregnant, but they themselves had talked about it; it was Cas', and she wanted to have it. He didn't have many objections, since he wasn't about to force her to have an abortion.

The cat, which Cas still hadn't named, came to live at Gabriel's, and as predicted, Lailah loved her.

"Cassie, we get to keep her?" Lailah jumped up and down, holding onto Cas' arm, overly excited.

"If your father says that we can, if not, then I'll just have to keep her at Florella's," Cas responded, holding onto the cat in the arm Lailah wasn't tugging at. He looked over to Gabriel, who shrugged, smiling.

"Well, I don't think she'd ever forgive me if I said no," he replied, and that was that.

"Dude, I don't know what you're talking about," Dean replied, curled up in blankets. They had made a bed on the pull out couch, which, Cas didn't even know still existed, and slept on that.

"You were sleep talking last night," Cas explained. "And then started talking about a princess and a dragon and myself,"

"Well I can't control my dreams," Dean shrugged. "So, how do I get you to cook for me?"

"Do I look like a 1950's housewife to you?" Cas retorted.

"Seriously dude, that food you made was amazing. How do I make you do that again?"

"Well, I suppose you could begin with asking politely," Cas replied, before throwing the covers off of him and getting out of bed. He stretched as Dean rolled out of bed, and as he turned around to face him he saw Sam emerging from his room.

"Hey, Cas!" he greeted, waving. "I forgot you were here, I've been working on my paperwork and got distracted."

"Hello, Sam," Cas nodded. "I was about to make breakfast, would you like some?"

"Oh man," Sam snorted. "Dean hasn't stopped talking about your food since we had it,"

"Shut up, Sam," Dean frowned, as Cas smiled. 

"I'm just telling him the truth, Dean," Sam countered, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, I'd love it for you to make breakfast,"

"I didn't friggin' talk about it all the time!" Dean retorted, but Sam had already moved on, as Cas made his way to their kitchen, leaving Dean standing with his mouth agape.

xx

"Cas, you don't have to clean up," Dean insisted, as Cas piled their plates together, about to bring them to the kitchen. "Dude, seriously, I'll pick up,"

"It's fine, Dean," Cas insisted, as he made his way to the kitchen, which already had nearly a sink full of dirty dishes, despite Dean always ordering out. "When was the last time you did the dishes?"

"Uhh, it's been a while," Dean frowned, as Cas set down the dishes onto the counter.

"Where's your dish soap?" Cas asked, looking around, but didn't get an answer since his phone started to ring.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Clarence, do you think you could do me a little favor?"

"What is it?"

"I need someone to watch my kids,"

"And you're asking me?"

"Look, Clarence, we both know you have nothing better to do. I need you to watch them for the weekend," Cas could nearly hear her grin over the phone as she drawled, her voice sweet like honey.

"When do you need me to be there by?" he asked, leaning on the counter.

"Before lunchtime," she replied before hanging up. Cas put his phone back in his pocket and sighed, before looking up at Dean.

"So, I guess you gotta go somewhere?" Dean asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Cas replied. "My friend Meg wants me to watch her children, so I have to go do that,"

"You?" Dean asked incredulously. "Watching kids? How old even are these friggin' brats?"

"The youngest was just born a few months ago, there's also a toddler, and a four year old." Cas answered. 

"Oh, man, you gotta let me see this," Dean grinned, as Cas groaned.

"Well, get a bag ready," Cas rolled his eyes. He crouched down, opened up the cabinets underneath the sink, and found the soap. He then stood back up and saw Dean still standing there, before shooing him away to pack.

Cas washed their dishes, as he saw Dean cleaning up the living room and where they slept. He then went to his room and Cas heard shuffling around the room, assuming it was him packing. By the time he had finished washing everything, Dean had gotten together a bag for the weekend, and was ready to go.

"I have to go to Gabriel's to get my bag," Cas told Dean, as he wiped his hands off on a dish towel.

"Alright, lemme tell Sam and we can go," Dean grinned.

Dean told Sam, then drove Cas to Gabriel's to get his bag ready. He said he'd gas up the car, and Cas made his way up to his room to get ready. He then waited downstairs outside of the bakery, and Dean drove up to the curb.

"You know this is only about a half an hour road trip," Cas told Dean as he got in, but Dean just shrugged.

"Oh well," he replied, before starting to drive towards Meg's. It was near the ocean, and Cas told him the way. She lived in the middle of a forest, but wasn't that far from a town. The beach was about ten minutes away, but Cas wasn't sure they could actually go.

"Wait, Dean," Cas frowned. "Stop the car,"

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, pulling over immediately.

"There's a hedgehog trying to cross the road," Cas told him, unbuckling and getting out of the car.

"Really, dude? A hedgehog? We're stopping the friggin' car for that?" Dean got out of the car and followed him.

"It'll take a minute," Cas replied. They made their way to the hedgehog and crouched down, before realizing what it was.

"A pine cone," Dean said out loud. "A pine cone."

"Yes," Cas replied, before standing back up.

"You made us stop for a pine cone,"

"Yes," Cas repeated.

"Oh my god," Dean said under his breath. "You sonuvabitch,"

"I genuinely thought it was a hedgehog," Cas told Dean as they walked back to the car.

"How did you mistake a pine cone for a friggin hedgehog?" Dean asked, still in disbelief.

"Well I didn't see you objecting to it."

They drove in silence, Dean steaming, until they got to Meg's house, when Dean was more than astounded by the sight of.

"This is where your friend lives?" he asked, and Cas nodded. The house was newly built, more of a modern look, but the woods still surrounded it, hiding it. It had a porch that wrapped around half the house, where seats and a hammock were to relax. The windows in the house were extremely large, but Cas couldn't see anyone inside.

"Park next to her Jeep, we'll have to get their carseats out," Cas told Dean, as he pulled their bags out of the back. He parked the Impala next to Meg's car, and the two of them got out. As they did, Meg came out of the front, holding onto her youngest child, smiling her bittersweet smile. She pressed a button from her key chain to unlock the doors, and Cas opened it up, getting out all three car seats.

"Hello, Clarence," she drawled, her venomous voice floating through the air as he did so. "How nice of you to bring a friend,"

"Hello, Meg," Cas replied, putting them simply in the backseat for now, and then carried his bag up to the front. "How long will we be staying here?"

"A few days, besides, you only go to school a few days a week," she grinned, shifting her child onto her other hip. "What's your name?" she asked Dean, her eyes flicking up and down.

"Dean," he introduced himself, as Meg continued to inspect him.

"Well, isn't that lovely," she told Cas, before inviting them inside. "I suppose I'll have to introduce you to all of my children then, Dean,"

Cas and Dean took their shoes off, following Meg into the living room where her oldest daughter sat watching TV with the toddler. She sat down next to them, brushing off crumbs off the couch.

"This is Ava," she told Dean, motioning to her baby. "Evie is the toddler and Meredith is the oldest. You know how to take care of children, I don't need to walk you through anything," she smiled once more, before handing Ava off to Cas. "I'll be back at some point, Clarence. Have fun with your unicorn," she gestured to Dean, before walking out of the house, grabbing her purse and keys.

"Well," was all Cas said, before Ava started crying. He rocked her gently, quieting her down as Dean sat, eyeing the kids. "I hope you didn't expect much more than this,"

"It's entertaining, if that's what you mean," he grinned. "I just can't picture you around kids,"

"Well here we are," Cas replied. "Did your mother feed any of you lunch?"

"She said you would," Meredith answered smiling, looking up at him. "I love when he cooks, does he cook for you?" she asked Dean.

"He cooked for me this morning," Dean grinned. "And before that once before. He never told me he could cook,"

"Oh, he's been alive for so long he's so good at everything he does," she grinned back, before wrapping her arm around Cas'. "Isn't that right?"

"To you, maybe it's a long time," he murmured, still nursing Ava. He could feel his face get hot, as he felt Dean's eyes boring into him. "What would you like?"

"Hmmm," Meredith sat, thinking. "The last time you were here Evie couldn't eat your food because she was still really little, so she hasn't eaten it,"

"That is true," Cas replied.

"I want chicken and pasta," she told Cas, before rambling on like any child. "Mommy said a lot has happened to you since we saw you last! She said your apartment burned down and you're living with Lailah, how is she? And Gabriel too, I want to see him too and eat all his yummy food. I heard you got a kitty too, you should have brought her,"

"Jesus, make sure to breathe kid," Dean laughed.

"Oh but there's so much to talk about with Cas! Mommy hasn't let us see him for a while," she frowned.

"You make it sound like she purposely forced you to not see me. I've just been busy," Cas replied.

"I guess," Meredith replied, twisting her t-shirt.

This seemed off putting to Cas, but he didn't say anything, or at least, not right then. He made eye contact with Dean, who shrugged, then smiled again at her.

"How about we play a game while your sister sleeps and Cas makes us the best meal you'll ever have?" he suggested to Meredith, who immediately jumped at the idea.

"Ava can just go in the crib over there," she told Cas, pointing to the crib in the corner. "What game are we going to play?"

"How about you let your sister get a word in?" Dean smiled again, and Evie made her way off the couch as Cas laid Ava down and made his way to the kitchen. He saw it wasn't the cleanest, and when going through the cabinets and fridge saw there was just about nothing to eat. He frowned, wondering what they had been eating for the past few days. Surely Meg must have bought them food or take out, really anything?

He walked into the living room, where he found Dean playing with the girls' toys on the floor. When he entered, Dean looked up, smiling.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Cas told Dean, who nodded.

"Time of my life with these two lovely ladies," he gestured to Evie and Meredith, who giggled. "Is something the matter?"

"We have to re-stock the kitchen, so I'll have to go to the store-" Dean began, before Meredith got excited.

"We're going to the store?" she asked, jumping up. "I love going to the store, there's always so much to do,"

Evie babbled something to Dean that Cas couldn't make out, and then giggled. Dean looked up at Cas again, before telling him, "Looks like we're all going,"

"If you say so, however, have you been in stores with children?" Cas asked, but was quickly drowned out by the noise of them getting ready. Dean helped the two find their flip flops and was quickly out the door, while Cas, however, took his time picking up Ava and making sure she hadn't used the bathroom, then carried her to the car where Dean was securing the carseats.

"I think we did a half decent job," Dean told Cas, before moving up to the driver's seat. Ava's car seat was in the middle, Meredith and Evie's on either side of her. Cas reached over Evie to put her in, making sure she was secure, then made his way to the passenger seat.

"I believe there's a good store near the highway, where we came from," Cas told Dean.

"Alright, do you kids listen to AC/DC?" Dean asked, looking in the rear view mirror.

"Mommy doesn't really play music," Meredith replied.

"Well get ready to have your mind blown," Dean told her, getting out an old tape and putting it in. He made sure not to turn it up too loud, because hey, they're kids.

They drove as AC/DC played, Dean making sure they played all the core essential songs. By the time they made it to the supermarket, Meredith was more than on board with classic rock.

"Since we'll be staying there for a few days, we'll need a few days worth of food," Cas told them, as he put Ava in a cart with a seat just for her. They started going down the isles, Cas picking up vegetables, while Dean ran around with the kids. Cas was sure they were going to get yelled at, or even kicked out, but they weren't.

He bought all fresh ingredients, since again, it was only for a few days, but didn't take into account what the kids would eat. He shrugged it off; Meredith always ate everything and anything he cooked, and Evie would eat what she would, or so he assumed. And of course, Ava was a baby with baby formula.

"Dean, it's time to go check out," he called out, and sure enough, Dean poked his head around the corner, Evie with him. Cas turned his head to find Meredith, but she wasn't in sight. "Did you lose her?"

"Not at all," Dean replied. "She's just playing,"

They loaded the groceries into the Impala and made their way back to Meg's, where yet again Cas sat through Dean gushing about his food, classic rock playing in the background as they played house.

xx

"Will you tell us a bed time story?" Meredith asked, after Cas tucked her in.

"I suppose," Cas replied, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Dean was busy getting Evie to bed, a few feet away from Meredith.

"I want a nice story," she insisted. "Mommy doesn't always tell nice stories,"

"Alright, I will try my best," Cas replied, before thinking about what to tell her. Dean sat on the other bed, watching him. "Once, there was an angel," Cas began.

"Of god?" Evie asked.

"Yes, of the lord. He was an angel of the lord," Cas answered. "He was like any other angel, and there wasn't much of a difference between him and his brothers and sisters. They all loved God and served under him. His name was.." Cas drifted off, unsure of what to name him.

"Castiel," Meredith let out a small breath.

"Castiel. Castiel was given a very important mission to get the righteous man out of Hell. The righteous man had been sent to Hell to save someone dear to him, and God told Castiel to save him. He fought with his brothers and sisters, tearing through Hell to save the righteous man. When they finally found him, he was in terrible condition."

This made Meredith gasp quietly, but Cas knew to not end it on a bad note.

"Castiel retrieved the righteous man from Hell and flew up, and out of there. Castiel made sure he was okay, and then had to leave, because angels can't be around humans. When the righteous man was back on his feet, Castiel came back to meet him," Cas told the children.

"What happened after that?" Meredith asked.

"They became best friends and it turned out that they were soulmates," Cas replied. "But Castiel didn't age or die, only the righteous man. And when he did, he became an angel alongside Castiel. The end,"

"That was a good story, can you tell us another?" Meredith asked, but Cas shook his head.

"There'll be more stories," Cas promised, before leaving the room with Dean. Ava was in her crib, which was still in the living room. Meg had a pull out couch, which they'd be sleeping on, if they could get any sleep, since hello, babies seem to wake up every other minute.

"That was some story you told them," Dean told him, as he turned on the TV. "Never exactly took you as the religious type,"

"Well," was all Cas had to say. "I go to mass for Christmas. My name is the name of an angel's. Besides that, however, there's not much religion in me." He shrugged, as he spread a blanket on the pull out.

"So, what's everyone been alluding to lately?"

The question took Cas by surprise, and he stopped spreading the blanket because of it. He then started up again, before asking, "Alluding to what? Dean, you have to be more specific if you want this conversation to continue."

"Everyone keeps saying cryptic shit," he shrugged, as he took off his shirt. He then got under the blanket, scrolling through the TV Guide. "About how old you are," he added, as Cas waited.

"Are you asking me how old I am? Or are you commenting on the fact everyone continues to allude to the fact I'm older than I look?"

"Either," Dean replied.

"Dean," Cas said sternly.

"Cas," Dean said back.

They were laying next to each other, although it was more they were propped up by pillows. Cas tried reading Dean's expression, but it was indecipherable, so he decided to just tell him the truth.

"Everyone continues to allude to the fact I'm older than I look because I am," he murmured.

"I don't wanna make this a Twilight moment," Dean whispered back, before laughing a little.

"I lived through the moon landing," Cas told Dean.

"That's it?"

"And both world wars,"

"Jesus," Dean's eyes widened.

"As well as the Revolutionary,"

"Cas, you're fucking with me, right?"

"If you're freaking out now, maybe I shouldn't continue speaking then," Cas frowned. He curled up in his blanket, looking up at the ceiling.

"Cas," Dean told him softly, frowning. "Dude. I didn't mean to upset you,"

"I lived through the plague," Cas closed his eyes.

"Cas."

"And was alive even before that."

"Castiel."

Cas opened his eyes, and looked over to Dean, who had put his hand over Cas'.

"Does it bother you?" Cas asked, as his voice broke.

"No, Cas, god," Dean replied. "You seriously haven't found your soulmate in all that time?"

"I did, Dean," Cas sobbed. "I found him. But then he died, and for some reason this happened to me," he gestured towards himself. "If they die early on, your body doesn't continue to age. That's how people are able to live forever, by killing their soulmate,"

"Cas, you don't have to tell me all this," Dean murmured, pulling him close. "If I knew about this.. fuck, even how old you are, I wouldn't have asked, like a dumb son of a bitch,"

"Dean-" Cas choked out, but Dean hushed him, pulling him up against him, Dean's head in the alcove that was the space between Cas' own head and his shoulder.

"Just don't say anything," Dean told him quietly, before the two of them drifted off.

 

chapter 6:

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

xx

"So what's your project again?"

Gabriel asked this as a lollipop stuck out of his mouth, Lailah standing next to him, nibbling on a cookie from the bakery. It was a slow Wednesday, and Cas had decided to go down to the bakery and get something to eat.

It had been a few days since the incident with Dean, and since then, Dean and Cas.. well, it was hard to say where they were, really. Cas never exactly opened up to many, although many people knew of his age, or at least, he wasn't just eighteen and a few years old. He wasn't aware of how old Dean was per say, but, he knew Dean wasn't as old as him in the slightest. Regardless, the next morning, they woke up and didn't mention it. The rest of the time spent at Meg's house was playing with the children, Cas cooking all of their meals, and that sort of thing. However, something wasn't right, and it wasn't simply just Cas and Dean talking, or more Cas blurting out his problems.

"So, why wasn't there any food when I came here?" Cas asked Meredith one day, with a frown. He meant to ask Meg, but felt as though he'd get a answer that wouldn't actually answer his question.

"Mommy says she doesn't have enough money for everything," Meredith shrugged. "Babies are expensive," she told Cas, who, although never having a child of his own (well, excluding Florella's), already knew this. But expensive to the point of no food?

"Doesn't your mother get money from the government as well as your father?" he asked Meredith, who simply shrugged, and Cas should have known better than to question a child about it, but couldn't help it. Cas knew Meg was on welfare, and got checks from Meredith and Evie's fathers. It was almost like a way to ensure that she wouldn't have to work - child support, that is - and Cas was sure of that. He wasn't exactly sure what else she could be spending her money on, but it was clear she wasn't spending it on her kids.

"Dean," Cas had said as they drove back to Marion. "Doesn't it seem odd?"

"What?" Dean questioned, as they coasted over the new pavement leading up to the town.

"That environment," Cas explained, before going on to detail what he had tried to talk to Meredith about.

"I guess," Dean shrugged. "Maybe she's just having a rough go of things. Maybe you should have talked to her about it instead," and Cas let it go after that.

Now, Cas had gone without hearing from Dean for a while, or at least a few days. He wasn't sure why, but he was positive there must have been a reason. Maybe he didn't like hanging out with people that could be his ancestor. Or, it was probably something to do with Sam and his transfer. At least Cas tried to convince himself that that was the reason.

Now, as he stood in the bakery with Gabriel and Lailah, he was struggling to remember the exact wording of his instructor's project assignment. Which, was odd for him, seeing as how he was always somewhat alert, and attentive to detail. Alright, so maybe he was worrying about Dean. But they were best friends, and that had to count for something. He felt guilty thinking about it, seeing as how he wasn't even as worried about Florella and her being pregnant in the slightest.

"To create a series that reflects and portrays an important aspect in your life," Cas told Gabriel. It wasn't the exact wording of his teacher, but it was close enough.

"What're you gonna do, Cassie?" Lailah asked, as Cas went behind the counter to get a slice of pie.

"Not sure. It's not due until the end of the year," he shrugged, before sitting down at a table to eat it. Gabriel sat across from him, intently staring at him, before Cas had to ask what was up.

"Nothing," Gabriel replied, before holding Lailah up. "It just so happens that the three of us were all named after angels,"

"Oo!" Lailah nodded her head. "We're important azpecs in your life,"

"Aspects," Cas corrected her gently. "It means a detail of what you're discussing,"

"Aspects," Lailah repeated, before Gabriel put her down.

"I mean, isn't religion kinda important?" Gabriel asked. "Weren't you going in for religious studies at first?"

"I was, before realizing I didn't need to pay an incredible amount of money to learn about something I had experienced first hand," Cas replied.

"Well, hey, just draw some angels then. Shouldn't be too hard, right? You could draw the four archangels, me included," Gabriel grinned.

"And me!" Lailah's head popped up next to Cas' arm, and she grinned.

"Hey, maybe you could draw them as people you know so it wouldn't be weird that my face is plastered against your project as well as my daughter's," Gabriel suggested, before a customer came in. "Just an idea," he patted Cas on the back as he got up, and made his way to the register.

Just an idea that stuck with Cas for the rest of the day, to the point where he couldn't get it out of his head. So he took his pencil and sketchbook and started to rough it out. The pieces could be 2D or 3D, whatever media that you wanted. The instructor had said pieces could also be as large as you wanted, and Cas was planning on making them on the larger side.

By the end of the night, Cas had sketched all of the angels except for Michael, and was working on putting more detail into them. Except, every time he tried drawing Michael, nothing felt right. He couldn't picture anyone as Michael, despite drawing an redrawing him over and over again. In the end, he decided to leave him out of it, for now.

When he showed Gabriel late at night, he was tired, but still excited to see it, since there was some sort of satisfaction for being drawn and having things in your life that are important to you being drawn. And when he showed Lailah, well, she certainly didn't disprove this notion of Cas'.

"It's me," she squealed, as she took Cas' sketchbook from him and ran to the kitchen.

"Lailah," he had called out after her, but she was already off, showing Gabriel. who was in the back, baking.

"Look, daddy, it's me! And you're there too but look at how pretty Cassie made me, it's like I'm a real angel," she grinned, shoving it in his face as he was frosting cupcakes.

"That's great!" he told her, putting the frosting down. "But, you know, you're not supposed to touch other people's things,"

"But I'm in it," she frowned. She looked over to Cas, before handing it back to him. "I'm so pretty," she repeated, grinning at Cas.

"I'm going to make them on a canvas nearly as big as you, if not bigger," Cas told her, which made her even more excited.

"Why aren't you on there?" Gabriel asked, going back to frosting his cupcakes, which Cas assumed were for a customer, probably a birthday party. Gabriel had a wide array of decorations next to it, and although he didn't skimp out on his normal baked goods for his bakery, he didn't make them all that childish.

"Why would I be?" Cas asked, putting his sketchbook underneath his arm.

"Because, hello, you're also someone with the name of an angel?" Gabriel rolled his eyes, as Lailah went to the sink to wash her hands and get back to whatever she was making, which from

"It's important aspects of my life, it doesn't have to include me," Cas objected, but Gabriel shook his head.

"Yeah, but it should include you. Maybe you could be the center piece or somethin, however you're arranging this,"

And so Cas went back to his sketchbook while eating a muffin and sipping on coffee, adding himself to the ensemble. When he finished, he realized he wanted to scrap Lucifer and Raphael, but something about Michael made him want to keep him there, despite Cas not having a face for him just yet. So as Cas closed his sketchbook, he sat there, deep in thought, wondering who his Michael could be.

xx

"How are you?" Cas asked Florella as she sat in her living room, eating a bag of chips.

"How does it look?" she shot back, somewhat aggressive.

"Well, you personally look cute pregnant, if that's what you meant." Cas teased, and she threw a chip at him. "Would you prefer for me to make you something?"

"Ugh, god yes, I've been too sick to actually cook," she rolled up the bag of chips and put them on the table next to her. "I've been to the doctors a few times, and they said everything was okay."

"Are you sure you don't want me going with you to your appointments?" Cas frowned as he made his way into her kitchen, unsure if he was going to have to go to the grocery store to get food.

"It's fine," she replied, stretching on the couch, before walking into the kitchen. "How's your cat?"

"Kitty is just fine, Lailah has been having a fun time with her," Cas told Florella as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I hope I don't throw up while you make me food, I haven't been feeling well lately," she murmured into his back.

"Why don't you sit then?" he asked, opening her fridge and examining what she had.

"Because I wanted to be with you," she replied.

Cas made her chicken noodle soup, although wasn't sure how good it'd turn out seeing as how she had made the chicken a few days ago, but oh well. He made both of them bowls and brought them into the living room, where they cuddled and ate while watching something about earthquakes and how the Pacific coast was long overdue for one.

"They sure like to scare people," Florella laughed it off, as the show went to commercial.

"I doubt it'd happen any time soon," Cas put his bowl on the side table, before laying down with her. "They just like to frighten people and play with their emotions. The way that they said Yellowstone is due for an eruption, and will coat the world in ash, when in reality, that won't happen."

"Well I'm glad that if we do get submerged by another plate or whatever, I'll get to do it with you," she mumbled, before drifting off to sleep as the sun set, the TV on quietly.

xx

At some point, Cas couldn't handle it. He needed to see Dean, needed to at least hear his voice. You can't just spend that much time around someone and then just stop, especially when you don't even know why. So, that's how Cas found himself at Dean's front door late at night, antsy, unsure of what he'd even say. He'd probably just ask where he had been and why they hadn't been in contact, but he really wasn't sure.

He had parked his car outside, his palms sweaty, his heart beating somewhat fast. He didn't see anyone around, the parking lot dimly lit, the apartment complex somewhat dark with a few lights here and there. Cas tightened his grip on his steering wheel, before forcing himself out of the car and up the stairs.

"Hello?" Cas knocked on Dean's apartment door, and when no one answered, he let himself in, seeing as how it wasn't locked. He saw the sink full of dirty dishes, piles of pizza boxes scattered, as well as take out in general. He frowned, before seeing no one was in the living room.

"Hello?" he called out again. "Dean? Sam?" When there was no response, he decided to just go downstairs and leave, seeing as how he didn't want to search the entire apartment for the two, or clues as to where they could be.

He made his way down the stairs, looking at his old apartment complex as he did so, and saw they had torn part of it down. "That's funny," Cas thought to himself. "Dean hadn't told me they even touched the thing to begin with. He must have forgotten to mention it, as well as forgot to mention where he'd be the past few days." He was deep in thought, thinking about Dean, and those meadow eyes that made Cas feel like he was in the middle of the woods instead of somewhere like town, or Dean's living room, when suddenly, he heard:

"Cas?"

He turned to the sound of the voice, and saw a figure stumbling, but even from a distance, he could tell that it was in fact Dean. He started walking over, but knew something was wrong.

"Hello, Dean," Cas greeted. "I went to your apartment but no one seems to be there, so I was on my way out. Where have you been?"

"Cas," Dean repeated, as Cas got closer, nearly next to him at this point. "Why did you come, you dumb son of a bitch?"

His speech was slurred and off, making Cas shudder. He hadn't known Dean to really drink; if anything, a beer here, a shot there, but never enough to really get him drunk to the point where he couldn't do something such as drive.

"I came to check on you," Cas replied. "Seeing as how you haven't contacted me since we got back from Meg's."

"Yeah, and maybe it's for the best," Dean nearly stumbled, but Cas caught onto him.

"Why would you say that?" Cas frowned, helping him regain his balance. "Dean, is this because of me?"

"You don't need to know why," Dean murmured into his ear.

"Yes, I do, Dean," Cas frowned. "I'm your friend,"

"You don't need to know," Dean repeated, before detaching himself from Cas.

"Dean," Cas called out as he walked away, his chest tightening. "Stop," was all he could manage to get out, but Dean had already stumbled away into his apartment complex. Cas knew he could follow him, for gods sake, the door was unlocked still and probably would be as time went on. But he didn't, he just stood there in the dark, watching Dean walk away, for whatever reason, he didn't know. And maybe he wouldn't find out for a while, but that was okay. People changed for whatever reasons. Sometimes you knew, sometimes you didn't, and this time, it was a reason Cas wasn't positive about. But it was okay, he was used to it. Or at least, that's what he'd tell himself in the months following this incident.

 

chapter 7:

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10

xx 

"Cas, you don't have to do this," Florella rolled her eyes as Cas brought in supplies for the baby room.

"We're not having our child just sleep in a crib in your room," Cas replied, as he set down a paint bucket. "We also discussed this earlier, Florella,"

"Well I changed my opinion," she pouted, as he turned around to face her.

"I already bought several things for the room, so it's too late. Just go sit down and I'll start decorating and moving all the extra furniture in here to your other spare bedroom," Cas instructed her, although she wasn't convinced.

Recently, they had been spending more and more time together. Dean and Sam were M.I.A, and Cas wasn't sure of what to do, but tried not thinking about it, although he did drive past their apartment complex a few times.

"Where's Dean?" Lailah had asked one cold day in December, as Cas worked on a homework assignment from school. It was to draw a portrait of someone, and Lailah fit the bill.

"I don't know," Cas replied, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"What do you mean, you don't know," she frowned, trying not to move and mess up the assignment. "It's been forever since I've seen him,"

"Him and I aren't on speaking terms," Cas replied, his brush stroking over the canvas softly.

"Then get back on speaking terms," she frowned, but let the issue go.

Sam had stopped by once in the winter, saying his transfer went through and he'd start going to college again for the spring semester. He also took Cas aside and told him something that.. well, he wasn't all that surprised, but was still upset.

"So, Cas," he said quietly, as they stood at the bottom of the stairs to Gabriel's apartment. "I know you two haven't been in contact,"

"Your brother said he didn't want to be friends for certain reasons," Cas narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, well.. trust me, it's for a good reason that has nothing to do with you. But I wanted to tell you that Dean found his soulmate."

"He.. he did?" Cas asked quietly, and Sam nodded.

"Well, he doesn't actually know who it is. He touched them, but besides that.." Sam trailed off.

"Oh," Cas frowned. "Well, I hope he finds them soon then."

"Yeah, he's pretty paranoid since he delivers pizza and is nervous it could have been someone he delivered pizza to." Sam shrugged. "Anyways, I gotta go now. Take care, Cas." Sam turned around and walked out the door, and as the door closed Cas got a glimpse of the Impala, Dean in the front seat.

Holidays passed, and time was moving on, as it always did. Dean would simply be another person Cas would no longer know by the end of the century, and that was that. He had just accepted his fate at this point; there was no point in even looking for his soulmate. He found them, once before, but he had died a few days after in some war. Cas shuddered at the thought; he had the same eyes as Dean, all meadow-like.

After he died, Cas' gray hair that had appeared simply vanished. Any signs of aging that had occurred were gone, and he had been the same way ever since. And that's the way the universe worked; in a strange, mysterious way with several loop holes, which made people like Cas wait an eternity and then some to find their one true love.

It was now May, and Florella was due in the next couple months. Dean was just a distant memory at this point, someone he had tried to stop thinking about and succeeded sometimes, other times, not at all. His art project was.. well, it had taken on a life of its own. Lailah and Gabriel were done, as well as himself, but he still couldn't think of a Michael, until one night when he was sick of thinking about Dean and decided to draw him in an attempt to get him out of his head. And it worked; Dean escaped from his thoughts for a while, but came back again. Cas continued to draw him, and he realized he would make a good Michael.

He hadn't discussed the idea with Dean, because, well. But he still had time to change it if need be.

Now, as he cleared out the twin sized bed in Florella's spare room, as well as the bed side table, he was distracting himself once more; this time, with making a nursery. He had purchased purple paint, seeing as how they didn't know the gender, as well as a crib and a few accessories, such as stuffed animals and a dresser. The crib and dresser were in boxes he'd have to build, today only for setting up to paint. 

"Cas?" Florella called out. He walked out of the nursery and into the living room, where she sat watching TV. "I ordered us a pizza, when it gets here, will you get it? I don't feel all that well,"

"Of course," he replied, going over to kiss her on the forehead. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yeah, for you to stop building that nursery," she replied, but Cas simply rolled his eyes, ignoring this. He went back to the room, clearing out a few boxes she had used to store junk, before he heard the doorbell ring. He walked to the front door, wallet in hand, which he nearly dropped when saw who was standing on the other side.

"Hello, Dean," he managed to quietly make out, as Dean looked at him with wide eyes.

"Son of a bitch.. Hiya, Cas," Dean replied, almost quieter.

There was a silence as the only noise was the hum from the TV, as they stood there, not breaking eye contact.

"I.. I forgot Florella lived here," he grinned weakly. "But, uh, here are your pizzas,"

"How much do I owe you?" Cas asked, tilting his head.

"Sixteen dollars and seventy two cents," Dean answered, trying to look away. Cas handed him a twenty and told him to keep the change. Dean handed Cas the pizza box without saying a word.

They stood in silence for a while longer, simply staring at each other, before Dean grinned weakly again. "Guess you found your soulmate?"

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked, before Dean gestured towards a gray hair.

"Didn't you see it before?" Dean grimaced. "Oh, man,"

"No, I.." Cas felt his hair, in shock and disbelief. "I didn't."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm still unable to find mine," Dean shrugged.

"Cas, what's taking so long?" Florella asked, waddling over to the front door from the living room. "Oh," she murmured, looking Dean up and down.

"Wait," Dean was caught off guard, his eyes shooting to her stomach. "Cas,"

"Thank you, Dean," Cas closed the door gently, before turning around to face Florella. "You didn't have to get up,"

"Yeah, well, I'm hungry and you were taking too long. So," she shrugged, as they made their way to the living room.

"I found a gray hair," Cas blurted out as they sat down.

"I know," she replied, opening the box up.

"You knew?"

"Yep," she replied, as if it was nothing. "I've known about it for a while now. There's only one, but it's been there since fall almost. I don't know how you haven't noticed it,"

"And you didn't bother telling me?" he tilted his head.

"Well," she shrugged. "I kinda thought you knew." She took a bite of a slize of pizza as the show she was watching went to commercial. It was something about a clothes store, then perfume, then a cleaning product for your household. Then, a commercial that had been playing on what seemed to be every channel for the past few months.

"Are you tired of second guessing yourself? Feel like the one might not be the one?" the commercial asked. "Well, then you need to take the soulmate test! A group of scientists have been working on it for decades, a sure proof way to see if that special someone really is who you think they are. Call now or go to one of our many clinics opening up nationwide!"

"What a stroke of luck," she looked over to Cas. "Now if you think you found your special someone, you can make sure of it,"

"I have no idea who it could be," Cas looked back at her.

"You do realize what this means, right?" she asked, putting her slice down.

"Do I realize what what means? That I have a gray hair?"

"You're going to die."

This took Cas off guard, but he shrugged it off. "Well, that's that, then. I can't change anything about it."

"Cas," she said softly.

"Florella, I've been waiting for what seems like forever. If it's my time, it's my time. It's not the end of the world."

"If you say so," she replied quietly, not pursuing the conversation any further, before picking her pizza back up, the hum of the TV surrounding them and the empty silence between the two.

xx

"Cas!"

He turned around, seeing Sam running up to him. It felt like he came out of nowhere, as if dropped down from heaven. Immediately, he could tell that something was wrong from the way Sam looked; disheveled, messy, as if he hadn't slept in days.

"I can't find him," he told Cas, out of breath. "I've been looking everywhere but I can't find him,"

"Dean?" Cas asked, startled. Sam nodded vigorously, trying to regain his breath. "What happened?"

"He went off the wall, I don't know why," Sam frowned. "He had been drinking a lot and I decided not to mess with him or say something that would make him lose it. When I woke up he wasn't in the apartment, which was okay I guess, but he wasn't there the whole day. He's been missing for three days now,"

"Well, I don't know where he could be," Cas shrugged. "I'd like to help you, Sam, but I wouldn't know where to even start."

"I just thought you might know something.." Sam trailed off, a worried expression on his face. "You two were pretty close,"

"Past tense. And I'll try to help you, Sam, but I don't know what I can do," Cas replied. "Would you like to come in for something to eat and we can talk more?"

Sam nodded, and Cas opened the door to the bakery, where Lailah was sitting, drawing in her sketchbook Cas got her. When she heard the two come in, she perked up, but saw something was wrong.

"Cassie?" she called out, and he gave her a feeble smile. "Cassie, did something happen?"

"I suppose," he replied, walking over to her. "Dean is missing,"

"Oh no," she frowned. "We saw him the other night,"

Cas looked back at Sam with a confused look, then back to Lailah. "When was this?"

"A day or two ago," she shrugged. "He was looking for you, Cassie,"

"Why didn't you tell me about this then?" he asked, frowning.

"I dunno, I thought daddy did. Plus you were at Florella's,"

"Well, what did he want?" Cas asked, before hearing Gabriel enter the room.

"Hey, Cas," he grinned. "And Sam,"

"Gabriel," Cas replied, irritated.

"Look, he was clearly drunk. I just didn't wanna make him look bad," Gabriel shrugged.

"He's been missing," Cas frowned. "That's why Sam is here."

"Well," Gabriel shrugged. "I don't know where he is now. He just wanted to see you, but when you weren't here, he left."

Sam and Cas searched all over town, but weren't able to find Dean, or even a slight sign of where he could be, really. They tried getting in contact with a few of his friends such as Ash, but didn't know where to start to find them, either. At night, they simply gave up, and went home. Cas, not feeling well, didn't eat dinner, simply taking a quick shower and then going to bed early. He was about to fall asleep, when he got a call from Florella.

"Hello?" he answered, still laying down. It wasn't really late at all, so he wasn't going to get mad at her or blame her for the fact she practically woke him up.

"I'm going into labor right now," she told him, panic in her voice. He sat straight up, his heart pounding. "I'm at the hospital in Portland I told you I've been going to. Please come soon," she told him, before hanging up. He shoved his shoes on, running out of his room and almost colliding with Lailah.

"Cassie?" she asked, as he scrambled around for his keys.

"Florella is in labor, I need to go now," he said hurriedly, before Gabriel stopped him.

"Calm down," he frowned, putting his hands on Cas' shoulders. "First of all, she's going to be fine, secondly, you need to calm down. We're going with you," he told Cas.

"We are?" Lailah clapped her hands.

They all made their way to the hospital, Gabriel driving, Cas sitting in the passenger seat, shaking his leg. When they arrived at the hospital, Gabriel and Lailah sat outside the room, as Florella sat in her room with Cas.

"God, Cas," she managed to get out. "This hurts like hell,"

"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"Just stay by my side, please."

And so he did, holding onto her hand.

xx

"You can go take a break," Florella told Cas. "Really. It's been hours, I doubt they'll come when you're gone,"

"But," Cas frowned, but Florella insisted. He walked out of the room, with an odd feeling in his chest. Gabriel and Lailah were sitting on a bench outside, half asleep. When they saw Cas, however, they were wide awake.

"Is the baby born?" Lailah asked, jumping up and down.

"Not yet," Cas replied. "She asked for me to step outside, and told me to take a break. Is there a vending machine nearby?"

"Yeah, around the corner," Gabriel told Cas. "You have money?"

Cas patted his pajama bottoms, before realizing, no, he didn't. Gabriel took out his wallet and took out five dollars, handing it to Lailah. "You can go with Cas," he told her, and she ran off with him, her hand intertwining with his.

"Aren't you excited?" she asked, bouncing up and down.

"I suppose," Cas replied.

"I'm excited," Lailah told Cas, as they made it to the vending machines.

Cas put the money into one of the machines, pressing a few buttons to get a bottle of water. Lailah got some juice, and for snacks, they got pretzels to snack on. When Cas was punching in the numbers for the pretzels, a few nurses sprinted by, followed by a doctor.

"Hospitals are scary," Lailah told Cas, as they walked back to Gabriel, who was now sitting with a nervous look.

"What's wrong?" Cas asked, as he sat down, before Gabriel looked over to Florella's room, slightly down the hall. The door was shut, and Cas frowned.

"A bunch of nurses went in there. I don't think you'll be able to go back in," Gabriel told Cas, whose stomach clenched up.

They sat in silence, Cas taking small sips of his water, before he had to get up and move around. He told Gabriel and Lailah he'd be back soon, and started walking down the hallway. He went to a different floor, and walked through it, no one noticing his presence as he looked around.

The hallways were white, everything smelling of hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. A few nurses made the hallway somewhat vibrant, with their colorful scrubs, some solid colors, others having patterns and designs. They passed Cas, not paying any attention to him.

He looked into a few rooms, seeing people in beds, some awake watching TV, some talking to their family members, some just sleeping. He didn't mean to spy on them, it was just a natural curiosity that drew him to look inside. He continued to walk down the hallway, his eyes moving over a few other people, before he stopped right in his path.

Dean.

He entered the room without thinking, closing the door behind him as Dean watched TV, barely noticing Cas. His eyes were glued, until Cas walked up to him, obstructing his view.

"Cas?" his eyes widened as he noticed who it was. "Son of a bitch,"

"What're you doing here, Dean?" Cas tilted his head. "Where have you been? Why didn't you tell Sam where you were? Do you know how worried he's been?"

"Cas," Dean gritted his teeth.

"Why are you even here?" Cas' voice raised slightly, making Dean shrink back in his bed.

"I just.. sit down, would you?" Dean asked, and Cas sat down on the edge of his bed. "I didn't mean for this to happen. Did Sammy tell you why I hadn't been talking to you?"

"No, the only thing I was aware of is that you found your soulmate."

"Well, I did find them. I guess," Dean replied, before looking off to the side. "The real reason why I stopped talking was that my mother died."

"Dean," Cas said gently, but he shook his head.

"I'm an alcoholic, Cas. I couldn't face you after I started up again. So I didn't." Dean shrugged. "That's the short version, anyways. The reason why I'm in this god damn bed is because the other night I drank too much and got alcohol poisoning. Anyways, why are you here?"

"Florella is in labor," Cas replied.

"Shit, dude, seriously?"

Cas nodded. "But, I don't feel good about it. A bunch of nurses went into her room and I haven't been in since." He shrugged, looking over to Dean.

They sat talking about everything; Dean's mother, and how close the two were. Dean had nearly a perfect childhood, although his father was an alcoholic and his parents had their issues often. His father and mother were soulmates, and had met shortly after both were eighteen. His father died earlier in life, from complications from drinking, leaving his mother to live until she died from breast cancer. Dean and Sam were unaware she even had it, and it was a shock for the both of them.

"But anyways, enough about me," Dean grinned. "Why don't we take a walk down to Florella?"

"If you insist," Cas replied. Dean got out of bed, IV drip following the two as they made their way through the hospital, down to where Gabriel and Lailah were.

"Dean?" Lailah asked, as she saw them approach. As Cas made eye contact with Gabriel, his stomach dropped.

"What happened?" Cas asked, his heart pounding in his chest, like it was about to burst open.

"I'm not sure," Gabriel told him quietly. "Something isn't right, though. This isn't what it was like when Lailah's mother gave birth to her."

"Cas," Dean frowned, putting his hand out, but stopped when the door to her room opened.

"Is Castiel here?" a nurse asked, and he stepped forward, engulfed by the brightness of her room. He saw two small babies in their carts, as well as Florella, laying, looking pale and devoid of color.

"What.. what is going on?" he asked a nurse, on the verge of tears.

"Her gestational diabetes caused the premature birth. There was too much blood loss and injury during the birth, she's not going to make it," one of the nurses replied.

"Cas?" she managed to get out, feebly.

"Why didn't you tell me," he shook, reaching out to hold her hand.

"I didn't want you to worry. How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

Cas sighed, holding tightly onto her hand. "You didn't," he told her quietly, before kissing her forehead softly.

"I'm really dying, aren't I?" she asked, her eyes starting to tear up.

"Yes, you are." Cas replied, looking her right in the eyes. "Is there anything important you wanted to tell me?"

She bit her lip, before replying, "Just don't name them something stupid." she had to take a breath, before telling him, "We weren't soulmates but I love you,"

"I love you too," he murmured back, before kissing her lips softly. He heard the monitor deadline as he broke apart from her, shaking.

The doctor called out the time of death, and Cas took one last look at her body, her pink hair framing her face ever so softly. He then looked over to the twins, who were laying in their beds, wrapped up in pink blankets and hooked up to a few machines already, which made sense, since they were about a month early. In back of him, the nurses pulled the curtain around Florella's bed, and Cas walked over to the two.

"We'll need to get them to a different room," a nurse told Cas, who simply nodded. "We can get their birth certificates done soon, as well,"

Cas turned around, opening the door and closing it behind him, coming face to face with Gabriel, Lailah, Dean and now Sam as well.

"Can we see the baby now?" Lailah pleaded, and Cas just stood there, his eyes still watering. "Cassie?"

"Dude, what's wrong?" Dean frowned, walking over to put his hand on Cas' shoulder.

"She's gone," Cas whimpered quietly. "She didn't want me coming with her to her doctor appointments because there was something wrong - some type of diabetes - and she knew it. And then she died from it,"

"Oh," was all Dean said, before pulling Cas in for a hug. It was awkward, Dean's IV tracing up towards Cas' back, the way Dean's arm was, but Cas took comfort in it, holding onto him tight, tears streaming down his face. The nurses came out of the room, rolling the twins down the hallway to the nursery, leaving Cas crying in the hallway, being comforted by Dean.

 

chapter 8:

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

xx

"You're naming them after angels?" Gabriel laughed, as they stood over the twins.

"Yes. The one on the left is Ezriel, and the one on the right is Arariel. They already gave me their birth certificates," Cas replied, looking into the beds. It was a week later or so, and the two had come out alright, actually, despite Florella having health complications. They'd be able to come home any day now, after being monitored and watched, as well as tested by their doctors.

Cas had been taking care of everything related to Florella; he had read her will, which just stated everything would be transferred to Cas. He had started to officially move into her house, moving over what little he had, really. He started cleaning out her belongings, primarily clothes, into boxes, unsure of what he'd do with them, making him simply just put them in storage.

He had fixed up the kid's nursery, adding in another crib. Dean had helped, after he got out of the hospital, taking it easy and making sure to spend time with Cas and to resist his urge to start drinking heavily again.

"Ezri and Ara," Gabriel patted his back.

"Cas, you in here?" Dean called out, coming around the corner. He saw Cas standing with Gabriel, and made his way over.

"Hello, Dean." Cas greeted him.

"Did they say when you can take them home?" Dean asked, standing next to them.

"I haven't talked to them yet," Cas replied. "Did you pick up the supplies I asked you to?"

"Yep, they're in my car," Dean looked over to the two, who had opened their eyes by now; bright and blue. "You wanna stay around for longer?"

"No, I just have to ask when I can take then home," Cas answered, turning around and walking towards the nurses. "I'll meet you in the car,"

"You're still coming over for dinner, right?" Gabriel asked, and Cas nodded.

xx

"We need to talk."

Cas sat next to Dean, across from Gabriel and Sam, while Lailah was in her room, sleeping.

"Is there an issue?" Cas asked, and Gabriel looked from Cas to Dean.

"It's become obvious to us that the two of you started aging at the same time," Gabriel stated.

"But we were friends for a while before that-" Cas began, but Gabriel shook his head.

"The two of you must have never touched then. I don't ever remember you to actually interacting, which is a vital part seeing as how you start aging when you touch," Gabriel's eyes narrowed.

"Did we really never touch?" Cas frowned, looking over to Dean, who simply shrugged.

"We scheduled an appointment at the clinic to see if you two really are soulmates. All they need is saliva, and the results will come back in less than a month," Sam told them. "The appointment is tomorrow,"

"I don't think this is necessary," Dean frowned, but Gabriel and Sam had made up their minds.

In the morning, Cas and Dean made their way to the clinic, where a saliva sample was taken from both of them. Cas said he was going to visit the twins, and Dean said he'd go with Cas.

They got into Cas' car, an awkward silence following as he started to drive.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" Dean asked, but Cas simply looked over to him.

"We can talk about it when the results come back," Cas replied, leaving them to sit in silence until they got to the hospital. They made their way to Ezri and Ara, who were both half asleep when they got to them.

"They told me we could take them home today," Cas told Dean, who was looking over at both of them.

"Really?" Dean asked, looking at him.

"That's why their car seats are in the back," Cas replied.

The nurse talked to Cas about how to care for them and what he'd need to do, and if anything went wrong,when to take them back to the hospital. Cas nodded, listening along, making mental notes, although most of it was what he had already knew from reading books about childcare. They finally finished talking, and Cas and Dean brought the two into the car, buckling them up snuggly, and then driving them back home to Cas'.

xx

"So," Dean mumbled. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Cas shrugged, looking over his menu, as Ezri and Ara sat next to them in their booth.

They were soulmates, but Cas felt like he was in a haze, like it wasn't real. He spent so long waiting, that he was still in shock. Dean had unofficially moved into Cas' house, but he slept on the couch, not to make things awkward. Dean hadn't tried taking things too fast, only there, helping out with the twins.

"Listen, Cas," Dean put his menu down, frowning. "I don't know what we're going to do, but we were meant to be together. And if you don't want that, then fine. But just don't act like we're not supposed to be soulmates."

"Dean, I'm not trying to act like that, it's just-"

"Don't deny it either," Dean frowned.

They spent the rest of their meal talking about what they'd do, and how to get over it all, when Cas reminded Dean of well, an important detail.

"Would it bother you if I said I already knew you?"

Dean paused at this, alarmed, but still curious and concerned. "You gotta be more specific, I don't know what you mean," he replied.

"You were beautiful," Cas told him, getting rather upset. "Don't you remember me telling you? I found my soulmate once before but he died. That was you,"

"Shit, really?" Dean looked startled. "Well."

They continued talking, before they went home with the twins, ready to take on whatever the world really threw at them, Cas, with a new view on life now knowing that his life had an expiration date.

 

chapter 9:

"A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth." Ecclesiastes 7:1

xx

Four years later

"Daddy, it's so hot," Ezri complained, as Cas held her hand, walking down the road. A few cars passed by, probably with their AC's blasting. Ara was on his other side, holding his other hand.

"That's why we're wearing shorter clothes," Ara told her, looking over.

"It's still hot," Ezri complained, making Cas sigh.

"Let's take them on a vacation down south," Gabriel had insisted, and the second the two of them heard about it, Ezri and Ara insisted that they go. Cas couldn't say no to them, and so here they were. The only issue was that Dean had to stay in Marion for work, but they called him every night, Ezri and Ara spending an ungodly amount of time on the phone with him.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Dean had asked Cas as they laid in bed a week before, Dean kissing Cas all over.

"They want to," Cas stretched, his eyes moving over Dean's body.

"Gabriel can't take them?" Dean asked, looking up and meeting Cas' eyes.

"Dean," Cas narrowed his eyes.

"Cas," Dean replied, laying on top of him. "It freakin' sucks I gotta work. I guess they don't let new employees get that much time off. At least you can work on your shit if you need to,"

"I suppose," Cas replied. Ever since he had drawn his final project for one of his classes, consisting of Lailah, Gabriel, Dean as Michael, and himself, it had been his shtick. He depicted religion figures and art pieces of all kinds from several religions. drawing and sculpting, as well as wielding. He usually got commissioned for his pieces, but also hung up pieces at Gabriel's bakery to sell them.

Dean, on the other hand, after graduating college with a degree in computer science, went on to get his own job, developing software. He didn't get hired right out of college, therefore having his job less than a year, he wasn't about to get a massive amount of vacation time, so he was going to have to stay in Marion.

So far, they had driven down south to Texas, and had been walking around, eating at various restaurants and looking at tourist attractions. They made their way to an Alamo museum, while Ezri and Ara made jabs at Cas' age.

"How do you know so much about this, daddy?" Ara asked.

"Were you here for it?" Ezri teased, making Cas roll his eyes.

"No," Cas replied, as they made their way through the museum. "When the events that had happened at the Alamo transpired, I believe I was in Greece."

"Why were you there?" Ara asked. Having Cas being so old, alive for so long, was like having their own personal history book that they could ask whatever, whenever.

"Visiting monuments, I believe," Cas answered, as they dangled from his arms, Ara always on the right, Ezri on the right. They knew Cas was their father, and loved them very much, and that their mother wasn't alive, but accepted Dean as their other parent without any thought. They didn't have a favorite father, and loved both of them equally, at times forgetting Dean wasn't actually biologically related to them.

"Is Greece pretty?" Ezri wanted to know.

"It's poor, now," Cas replied. "They used to rule the world, but now they're all living together and trying to get back on their feet. But, it was pretty when I knew it. Parts of it are still pretty,"

"Do you think you can take us there?" Ara asked.

"We're already on vacation," Cas frowned. "But at some point, if you want,"

They continued to walk down the museum, Gabriel somewhere else, finding the bathroom with Lailah, when Cas got a call from Dean. He detached himself from Ezri, and answered.

"Dean?" he answered.

"Cas," Dean breathed out. "There's an earthquake right now,"

"Are you safe?" Cas asked, worried.

"I don't-" Cas heard a loud crash in the background. "Look, this is bad," Dean told Cas. "Fuckin' everything's going to shit. I don't know if this is the big earthquake scientists have been talking about, but it feels like,"

"Dean," Cas pleaded, gritting his teeth. "Please stay safe," he told him, but he felt his stomach drop. The big one, the thought in back of everyone's minds: the earthquake that could possibly devastate the western part of America, or west coast, at least. Cas didn't think it'd actually happen, since there wasn't that much concern for it, only discussion of it.

"I will," Dean replied, but Cas heard the panic in his voice. "Tell the kids I love them. I love you,"

"I love you too, Dean," Cas heard him hang up, and looked down at Ezri and Ara, who both looked back up at him, confused.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Ara asked, as she held onto Ezri's hand.

"There's an earthquake where daddy is," Cas bent down to eye level with the two of them. "It doesn't sound good, but I'm sure he'll call back soon."

They decided to go back to their hotel, where Cas turned on the TV to find news stations coming out with the breaking news. Apparently it was the big one. The earthquake that had the power to wipe out thousands, paired up with the waves. The waves started to push their way up through the land, even towards Seattle, and it was obvious that people needed to leave and evacuate. So far, the death toll was higher than expected, already above an estimated 15,000, and the number of injured also higher than anticipated.

"Why hasn't daddy called us again?" Ara asked, as she came into the room with Ezri.

"He's probably busy. Knowing him, he's probably trying to help our neighbors, and check on uncle Sam," Cas assured them, sitting on the bed.

But he didn't. Cas never got a call, waiting for what seemed like forever, sitting on his bed, walking up and down the hallways, looking out the windows; he didn't eat much for dinner, troubled by the news, unable to sleep. For the next day, he was on edge, and when he saw the news, his heart sunk. He truly hoped Dean left Marion, and wasn't injured in the earthquake. He wasn't exactly sure how far inland the water would go, but was positive it wouldn't hit town, but that made him think of Meg, if she was still even living at her house. Her kids had been taken into custody, currently in a foster home, long ago, and Cas hadn't talked to her in a very long time. But even thinking about this, his mind couldn't help but think about Dean.

When he did get a call, he answered immediately, not hesitating, not even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello, Dean?" Cas spoke into his phone, frantically.

"Cas? It's Sam," he informed Cas. "You uh.. heard about the earthquake, right?"

"Yes," Cas replied, anxious. "Is Dean there?"

"No," Sam answered, making Cas' heart drop. "I don't know where he is,"

"Where are you right now?" Cas asked.

"I'm on the road. Marion was hit by the earthquake pretty hard, but the waves didn't make their way here at all. I'm trying to make it to your house to check up on Dean, but all the roads are blocked by trees that fell down and the police have taped off areas. I'll call you when I make it there, I'm probably gonna go by foot. I might not make it or get stopped by someone," Sam informed Cas. They hung up soon afterwards, Cas still a jumbled mess of emotions.

"So, have you packed up?" Gabriel asked, and Cas looked up.

"No?" Cas frowned.

"Well, we're leaving in half an hour, so you better," Gabriel patted him on the shoulder, before walking out the room to his own.

Cas got his things together, and Gabriel got them plane tickets instead of driving back, since they had a rental car. They made their way to the airport and flew the almost six hour flight back to Oregon, Cas nervous the entire time. They landed and took a taxi, and made their way to Marion, but as Sam said, there were roads blocked off. They could make it to Gabriel's house, and got out there. Gabriel and Lailah were to stay there, and Cas would go to his house with his car, which he had left at Gabriel's.

He started driving towards his house, but couldn't make it the entire way there, since trees blocked the way. He got out with the twins, and they started making their way towards their house.

When they got there, the house wasn't damaged, although a tree did fall down in the back. Cas walked in, but Dean was nowhere to be found. He walked back out, wondering where Sam was, when he got a phone call.

"Hello?" Cas answered.

"Cas," Sam spoke. "I found him, he's down the road from your house, near the house that hadn't sold yet."

Cas hung up, and nearly started sprinting towards the house, Ezri and Ara tried keeping up, following him down the road. He saw Sam standing outside a house that had a tree fall on it, and went up to him. "Where is he?" Cas asked, startling Sam.

"Cas, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go in-" Sam began, but Cas started inside, the front door unlocked. The tree smashed into the back end, through the kitchen. Cas made his way to it, and knew why Sam said it. Dean laid underneath it, his beautiful eyes closed. Cas knelt down, running his hand through his hair, and over his face.

"That's okay," Cas murmured, looking down at him. He could feel his body reverting back to a younger version. He heard Sam enter the house with Ezri and Ara, the three of them slowly moving towards the kitchen. His eyes moved over Dean, the sunlight highlighting his hair and eyelashes, his skin pale and his body stiff and cold.

"I'll wait for you."


End file.
